The cover of the March/April 2012 issue of The Peak featured a photo of author Bob Mason examining B-24 wreckage near Rio Verde.
Mid-Air B-24 Crash
This article has been published in three parts. This is the last part. Editor
Mid-Air B-24 Crash: Part 1. 1944 Collision Seen by Local Ranchers
Mid-Air B-24 Crash: Part 2. Search for Crash Site
Part 3. Postscript
By Bob Mason
The story of this search was written and published in the Fountain Hills newspaper in May of 2001. A week later, a local businessman who belonged to a World War II Bomber Group called the editor, telling him that he had just read in their current national newsletter a story about the same incident. Upon investigation, the man writing the story (Phil Anderson) lived in North Carolina and was telling about how he had escaped death by getting off one of the two doomed planes just before it took off from Davis-Monthan Air Base on that fateful day.
The writer talked to Mr. Anderson several times during the next two weeks and received pictures and memories from him. Because of an ear infection—and the 20,000 feet elevation of the flight that day, the pilot told Anderson that he couldn’t go up. Two other men of his crew were making up classroom training assignments and were also grounded. That was the reason for only seven men on one plane. The normal crew number was 10.
Anderson tells more details about the crash that he heard from the other men when the remainder of the four-plane group returned back to their base. He said that when they broke out of clouds at 20,000 ft. one plane was above the formation. As it dropped down to get into position it clipped the wing of another, severing it. The two planes locked, a ball of flame erupted and they began to spin downward in an arc.
Rusted Chain and Bomb Hook
There are lots of fascinating stories in the history of our area. This writer has found few that match this one for the mystery and searching involved, the amazing coincidence of the timing of the Fountain Hills story and the bomber group newsletter story from Phil Anderson and the fact that someone in Fountain Hills would belong to the same bomber group and read the newsletter.
History can be exciting!
B-24 Liberator Facts
Two features of the B-24 Liberator might have contributed to the collision. The B-24, often compared to the B-17 Flying Fortress, was said to be more difficult to fly, with heavier control forces, and poor formation flying characteristics. The B-24 also had a more modern design, higher top speed, greater range, and heavier bomb load capacity than the B-17.
The B-24 was originally built by Consolidated Aircraft and was introduced in 1941. In 1944, the Ford Motor Company produced one plane per hour and 650 planes per month. A total of 18,482 B-24s were produced from 1940 to 1945.
A variety of models were manufactured but on average the B-24 had a cruising speed of 175 mph, a maximum speed of 297 mph, a range of 1,540 miles and had a “serviceable altitude” of 28,000 feet. During WW II, it was used by the US Army Air Force, US Navy, Royal Air Force, and Royal Canadian Air Force.
Painting of B-24 Liberators Over France
Related Articles
Mid-Air B-24 Crash: Part 1. 1944 Collision Seen by Local Ranchers – Published: August 1, 2015
Mid-Air B-24 Crash: Part 2. Search for Crash Site – Published: August 8, 2015
January 25, 2017
My grandfather was on one of the planes. I got the military report for this incident and it was mentioning that they could not see flying into the morning sun.
January 25, 2017
Thanks for the comment. When Bob Mason researched and wrote this article he really documented an important part of our local history and your family history. Actually, I learned about the crash from reading one of Bob’s books. I’m sworn to secrecy as to where the site is but Bob did show it to me. Not much there, looks like a normal piece of land in the Sonoran Desert. The military sent in a crew after the crash and they removed almost everything. Only a few small plane parts are still there. Les
January 26, 2017
The report had pictures of the site before it was cleaned up. I gave all of this to my dad several years ago.