Davis-Monthan - Davis-Monthan

On March 23, 1950 at 08:15 AM, Davis-Monthan - Davis-Monthan experienced a crash involving Boeing B-50 Superfortress, operated by United States Air Force - USAF, with the event recorded near Hyder Arizona.

The flight was categorized as training and the reported phase was flight at a desert crash site.

14 people were known to be on board, 12 fatalities were recorded, 2 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 85.7%.

Crew on board: 14, crew fatalities: 12, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The heavy bomber departed Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson at 0615LT for a routine training mission that involved navigation, aerial refueling and camera gunnery training. After transferring 870 gallons of fuel to a KB-29 over Yuma, the crew pressurized the cabin and began to climb to 20,000 feet. While climbing through 17,000 feet, at about 0815LT, the master fire warning light suddenly illuminated on the pilot's instrument panel as the right scanner simultaneously reported a fire streaming from Number 3 engine. There were three successive minor explosions that rolled the bomber onto a 45 degree angle right bank. With the right wing engulfed in flames, the ship then fell into a steep right turn and began to disintegrate. As the bomber broke apart in the sky, only two men of the crew of fourteen were able to escape, the copilot Lt William Gentry and the bombardier, Captain John Lee. The wreckage was spread over a two-mile area of remote desert terrain. Source: http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/b50superfortress.html

Aircraft reference details include registration 46-020, MSN 15740, year of manufacture 1947.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 33.0164°, -113.3488°.