Feb 18 1943 XB29 crash in Seattle

[262crew]

I was watching the "news" today and they covered a story about a fire fighter that was killed in 1943 fighting a fire that was caused by an airplane crashing into a building. I got to thinking about it and was sure it was the B29 that crashed into Frye slaughter house. The news didnt say the type of craft. So with a little digging I found the answer.

Local news report.

http://www.king5.com/localnews/stories/ ... 5b480.html

From http://www.seattle.gov/emergency/hazards/history.htm

Feb. 18, 1943 Plane Crash
A B-29 bomber came down short of Boeing Field and struck the Frye slaughterhouse. Eleven crew members, two firefighters, and nineteen people on the ground were killed. It caused a large fire, cut major cross-town power lines and released a large amount of ammonia, killing one fireman.

I believe this was one of the first B29's to be produced? All in all a good ending to a sad story. Thanks to the honor of another fire fighter!

More info and pictures.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... N%26um%3D1

[JohnH]

Yes that was the crash that killed Boeing test pilot Eddie Allen and his crew.

[Jack Cook]

That was Eddie Allen's crash. My dad and Grandma were a couple blocks away when it crashed.

[JBoyle]

When I was doing my Masters thesis on Military-media relations, I came across a story about how the USAAF helped keep the lid on the fact it was an XB-29 that crashed.

In the absence of any other information, most people assumed it was another bomber...probably a B-17.

A recent airticle in FlyPast reproduced some period newspaper photos and it was noted that the tail section wreckage was airbrushed out.

I wish I could find that original article...a great piece about avaition history and wartime censorship.

Today, I fear the media would't go along...CBS would probably love to braodcats that it was a prototype of a million dollar bomber...

[retroaviation]

Dang it....I've got a photograph of that wreck somewhere around here, but I cannot find it at the moment. I'll keep lookin' and then if I find it, I'll be sure to scan it and post it here. I haven't seen it in a while, but I seem to remember goats, or sheep, or pigs climbing all over the smoldering wreck.

Gary

[Second Air Force]

Frye was a pork processor. One of the photos of the accident scene showed a huge sign on the side of the building with bacon, lard, and ham advertising.

S

[The Inspector]

One of the crew on board was a guy my Mother dated for a while before she met my Dad. Among the products FRYE made was BLACKHAWK bacon.

Perhaps the saving grace for the 3350 was awarding a contract to build them to CHRYSLER. They poured a huge amount of R&D into combing out the DOUBLE CYCLONE and turning it from a road flare into a somewhat more reliable powerplant and maybe saving the B-29 program altogether.

About 6 years later, a couple miles South of the FRYE plant, Boeing stuck an early B-50 into the side of Beacon Hill above where the old RAINIER Brewery is (now the home of TULLEYS COFFEE).

[The Inspector]

OH, yeah, around the same time frame as the B-50 acciddent, Northwest Orient Airlines (NWA but without the hats) ditched a 377 STRATOCRUISER in Puget Sound after experiencing horrible vibrations after take off from Bow Lake Airport (now Sea-Tac) when retrieved, it was discovered that one of the engines hydraulically operated cowl flap system was rigged 180 out so 'open' was closed and visa versa.

If you don't get the 'without the hats' line, ask your late 20's kid about NWA

[lmritger]

If you don't get the 'without the hats' line, ask your late 20's kid about NWA

Was the plane Straight Outta Sea-Tac?

[b29flteng]

Two things:

1. The Boeing 377 crashed because the cowl flaps if opened in flight too much will cause a severe vibration in the elevator system. The FE was fresh off of flying "Connies" which have switches for the cowl flaps that work opposite from what the 377 does. So the the FE screwed up, he moved the cowl flap switches in the wrong direction.

2. The XB-29 crash was caused by leaking fuel from the fuel tank filler ports that were mounted in the wing leading edge on the XB-29 and not in the normal location of on top of the wing. Fuel leaked into the leading edge and flowed down to the engine exhaust and caught fire. There is no way the crew could have saved the plane as the fire extinguishing system will not reach the leading edges.

[TonyM]

The airplane that crashed 18 Feb 1943 was serial number 41-3, which was the second B-29 type; the fist B-29 airframe was 41-2.

A full and detailed summary of this accident (based on the official AAF Form No. 14 Aircraft Accident Report) can be found in Volume I of my book on page 277.

TonyM

[Airlift48]

[quote="The Inspector"] it was discovered that one of the engines hydraulically operated cowl flap system was rigged 180 out so 'open' was closed and visa versa.
quote]


They are actually electrically operated. A central motor in each engine accessory section connected to each cowl flap mechanism with teleflex cables.

[The Inspector]

B29flteng-
Thank you for clearing up the cowl flap thing, I apparently had been operating under wrong information all this time, so much grasio-

Airlift48-
hows about just a bit less FKIA snotty in your reply posting? I completely understand you work on one full time, the one and only time I flew on one, I was about 8 1/2 years old, and that was more than a few decades ago

[lmritger]

2. The XB-29 crash was caused by leaking fuel from the fuel tank filler ports that were mounted in the wing leading edge on the XB-29 and not in the normal location of on top of the wing. Fuel leaked into the leading edge and flowed down to the engine exhaust and caught fire. There is no way the crew could have saved the plane as the fire extinguishing system will not reach the leading edges.

Oof. How did this design ever make it past the concept stage? Well, it's fortunate that Boeing learned from this and redesigned it, although at a terrible cost.

Lynn