Warbird Information Exchange

Hello Mustang Driver:

Thank you so much for the update of the existance / non-existance of the crashed B-25 in the Monagaha (sp?) River. My wife's relatives in the Greensburg PA have kept me updated over the past couple of years on the recovery. But apparently there is now nothing to recover.

JohnV

I was wondering if anyone would have info on the following crashes:

A-24 42-6713 crashed on 06-29-43 in Milton, Pa.

P-40F 41-14279 crashed on 09-30-42 in Rheems, Pa.


Thanks,
Nathan

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I'd be curious to hear about this one too. I just moved from Rheems to Harrisburg. Wreck hunting in Rheems wouldn't be too hard. It is all farm land. Which would lead to believe there is nothing left. But ya never know.

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Jeff

You will find no wreckage of the P-40F # 41-14279.


According to the Army Air Forces Form No. 14 Aircraft Accident Report:

The airplane made an emergency forced landing after suffering an engine failure. The airplane was landed intact. The airplane was likely disassembled and trucked out.

The pilot, 2Lt. Richard T. Schill, was uninjured. The airplane, part of the 59FS/33FG, was being ferried from Olmsted Field, PA, to Philadelphia, PA.

There are 11 good photos in the accident report.

Good Luck with your research.

When I have some time this evening, I will look at the Accident Report for the A-24A # 42-6713.

Stand by.

TonyM.

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

Wow Thanks Tony. That is great info. At lest I can scratch that one off my list of crashes I am interested in. The A-24 crash site is about an hour and half from me so that is pretty darn close!

I would try for the crash record reports myself but when I called they said their office is being worked on so no requests will be sent out in 2-3 months!

Cheers,
Nathan

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Nathan,

You won't find any wreckage for A-24A # 42-6713.

According to the AAF Form No. 14 Aircraft Accident Report:

The airplane took off from Rome, NY, on a flight to the Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. The pilot encountered poor weather and became lost. He arrived in the area of the Milton Airport, Milton, PA. He circled the field and decided to land. The pilot was able to land but was unable to stop on the 2,000 foot runway. The airplane ran off the end of the field and collided with railroad tracks. The airplane sustained serious damage but was repairable.

Pilot 2Lt. Willis L. Warner and passenger SSgt. George F. Sturgeon were uninjured. There are nine good photos of the airplane in the accident report.



You need to find an airplane that really smashed into something in a remote area, such as a Controlled Flight into Terrain accident or a bail out in a remote area. The remote location of the crash site will ensure that the airplane wreckage will be there and the collision with terrain will fragment the airplane and make it unsalvagable.

Here is one that you might want to consider:

12-26-41. Conococheague Mountain, Pennsylvania. At 1140 EST, a Northrop A-17 flying in poor weather crashed into the 1,700-foot level of 1,950-foot Conococheague Mountain near Blaine, Pennsylvania, killing pilot 2Lt. William E. Luetzow.

Because of the remote location of the mountain top, there should be some wreckage still up there. If you find the wreckage, you can leave a small cross or other memorial for the pilot.

Good luck with the wreck finding.

TonyM.

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"Welcome back Mr. Lasky."

Roger that Tony thanks. Yep I know about the A-17 I got info on it and plan to go for it sometime.

Cheers,
Nathan

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Hi all,

I got an update on the research on Northrop A-17 serial number 35-69 that crashed in my town, Towanda PA on 10-10-42.

-The Northrop A-17 had problems and had to land at the Towanda airport. On landing the A-17 clipped a concrete gate post on Fox Chase farm(These farms used to be located in front of the airport runway. But these are no longer there. The reason I know this is from overhead pictures taken in the 1980's of the airport and are currently hung on the wall in the airport office). Report said that the pilot was not hurt and the aircraft was dismantled and taken back to the factory for repairs.

So thats another aircraft I can scratch off my list. But there is another A-17 wreck I have been researching the past week. And much more likely to find something on this one because it crashed on top of a remote mountain. I have been in contact with the locals of that area and will let you know if I find any leads.

Now update on the P-35:

-No real news yet. But I got Penndot helping me on this seeing how they know the roads. I was up by the area the P-35 had crashed. It's only 10 minutes away from me. If Penndot is unable to find out who owns the property now then I'll just go down to the court house and pull the deed or tax records on the place. Then hopefully I can pin-point where the old farm is at.

Thanks,
Nathan

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