Before and After: Boeing XB-17, Model 299, the prototype for the B-17 ( above), crashed at Wright Field, Ohio, on October 30, 1935, killing the pilot and co-pilot due to a ground crewman’s error ( shown at top). But with the tremendous buildup of aviation forces during the war-with rushed training and a punishing manufacturing schedule to churn out planes (the aircraft plant operated by Ford Motor Company at its huge Willow Run, Michigan, facility built a complete B-24 every hour see WWII Quarterly, Spring 2017), things were bound to go wrong. Planes (and gliders, too) have crashed ever since they were first invented.
Heavier-than-air flying machines, operated by young, inexperienced pilots (and even seasoned veterans), are subject to mechanical failure, unfavorable weather conditions, and human error-even before they arrive in an overseas combat zone, where the dangers quickly multiply. Their story, however, has gone largely unknown, their sacrifices unrecognized.Īs everyone knows, flight involves risk. Army Air Forces, Navy, and Marine personnel during World War II. Tragically, there were far too many such accidents that took the lives of thousands of U.S. Everyone on board was killed.Ī freak accident? Yes. Realizing that he had overshot the runway, the pilot attempted to pull up but slammed into a tree. The pilot was beginning his landing approach into the Indianapolis municipal airport but a heavy fog shrouded the runway.
Navy C-47 Skytrain with five men aboard was en route from Naval Air Station, Olathe, Kansas, to Columbus, Ohio.
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