39-008

Safety history

• July 18, 1942AccidentHull loss

  The airplane departed Gander Airport to be transferred to the Johnsonville Naval Air Development Center located in Warminster, about 30 km north of Philadelphia, to be retrofitted with the latest armament. Flying over North Reading, the crew encountered an unexpected situation and apparently attempted an emergency landing when the airplane collided with the chimney of a house and crashed in a dense wooded area. The airplane was totally destroyed and all 10 occupants were killed. At the time of t

  Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress · 10 fatalities

  The accident was the consequence of a phenomenon called ‘flutter’ that may have caused one of the airplane’s wings to fall off on its descent. Further supporting this theory was the fact that an undamaged wing was found a significant distance away from the wreckage. Full accident record