Wright Patterson - Wright Patterson

On July 9, 1943 at 01:27 PM, Wright Patterson - Wright Patterson experienced a crash involving Douglas C-54 Skymaster, operated by United States Army Air Forces - USAAF, with the event recorded near Wright-Patterson AFB (Dayton) Ohio.

The flight was categorized as training and the reported phase was flight at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

5 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 2 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 60.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The C-54 was flying in formation with a Lockheed C-40A Electra Junior registered 38-546, so his crew could photograph the dropping of a dummy combat tank from the C-54. After the tank was released, the pilot of the C-40A made a quick turn to the left, striking the C-54 right wingtip. The C-40A entered a spin and crashed near the runway, killing all five crew members. The C-54 continued on for 700 feet, allowing two passengers to bail out. The plane then crashed in a vertical dive, killing three other crewmen. Source: http://www.joebaugher.com/

Aircraft reference details include registration 41-37271, MSN 3057, year of manufacture 1943.