Bolling Field – Montreal – Presque Isle – Houlton – Montreal – Bolling Field

On May 24, 1942 at 11:35 AM, Bolling Field – Montreal – Presque Isle – Houlton – Montreal – Bolling Field experienced a crash involving Lockheed 12 Electra Junior, operated by United States Army Air Forces - USAAF, with the event recorded near Mt Howe Brook Maine.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

6 people were known to be on board, 6 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 4, passenger fatalities: 4, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft left Bolling Field AFB (Washington DC) on May 23 bound for Houlton, Maine, with intermediate stops in Montreal and Presque Isle. The crew left Montreal at 0934LT on May 24 with a crew of two and four passengers, among them Lt Col Louis Gimbel. En route, while cruising at an altitude of 5,000 feet, the crew requested to climb to 7,000 feet and confirmed an ETA at 1134LT. In poor weather conditions, the crew was unable to locate the airport of Presque Isle and Houlton. Eventually, the aircraft hit tree tops and crashed in a dense wooded area located in the Howe Brook mountain range, between Presque Isle and Houlton. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all six occupants were killed. Crew: 1st Lt Clarence Wright, pilot, S/Sgt Frederick Taylor, flight engineer. Passengers: Lt Col Louis Gimbel, Cpt John Franciscus, Cpt Gilbert Herbach, 2nd Lt Earl Wilkinson. Sources & photos: http://www.mewreckchasers.com/C40.html

Aircraft reference details include registration 42-22249, MSN 1273, year of manufacture 1942.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 46.3056°, -68.1948°.