B-29 Crash at Andersen Air Force Base (44-87741)

Incident Overview and Flight Details A heavy bomber, identified as a B-29, departed Andersen Air Force Base at 0605 local time on a return flight to Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, with a planned stop at Kwajalein Island. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft's number two engine failed. The crew managed to shut down the engine and feather the propeller. During the final approach to runway 07R, after passing through the last cloud layer, the pilot-in-command initiated a go-around. After completing a circuit, the pilot began a second approach a few minutes later. While attempting to land, the pilot turned the B-29 into the feathered propeller at too steep an angle. With the landing gear down and flaps retracted, the bomber lost lift and control. The aircraft banked 80 degrees to the left and crashed in a near-vertical position onto several houses located short of the runway. ## Casualties and Personnel Among the 16 occupants, all four crew members and five passengers were killed, while seven others were injured. On the ground, ten people were killed, including six children and two entire families. The crew included 1st Lt Henry G. Oetgen (pilot), 1st Lt Sophus Eddie Larsen (copilot), 1st Lt Dominick J. Christopher (navigator), T/Sgt John M. Reilly (flight engineer), 1st Lt Howard L. DeBoer (bombardier), S/Sgt Homer A. Pickrell (gunner), T/Sgt Fred Leard, A3c Donald J. Wagner, A2c Francis L. Murray, 1st Lt Jack Patton, A2c Robert L. Jensen, A1c Donald C. Van Doren, A1c William J. Backman, A2c Nelson H. Graham, A2c Roberto Duran, and A2c Walter R. Newby. Those killed on the ground were Lt Col Benjamin L. Mills, his wife Agnes, and their three daughters (Margaret, 9; Helen, 5; and Martha, 2); Maj Gerald A. Orken, his wife Shirley, and their children (Vivian, 5; and Steven, 3); and Bonnie Kimball, 11, daughter of Cpt Stanley J. Kimball.