Killed in service when B-24D Liberator #42-40535 collided with trees while attempting to land at the Smyrna Army Airfield, Smyrna, Tennessee.
Returning from a triangular navigational training flight that took the crew to Chattanooga, then onward to Knoxville and back to Smyrna, they encountered heavy rain and low visibility. On first attempt to land, the instructor advised the student pilot to fly directly over the runway then to do a go-around. On the second landing attempt, the bomber lost too much elevation and collided with trees and crashed, killing five and seriously injuring two others.
The four other Army aviators killed were:
2Lt. Thomas N Arrington, Jr, Instructor Pilot
2Lt. Donald E Cochran, Student Pilot
1Lt. Benjamin F Fizzano, Pilot-rated passenger
Sgt. James R York, Flight Engineer
Pvt. James K Blanchard, passenger
Returning from a triangular navigational training flight that took the crew to Chattanooga, then onward to Knoxville and back to Smyrna, they encountered heavy rain and low visibility. On first attempt to land, the instructor advised the student pilot to fly directly over the runway then to do a go-around. On the second landing attempt, the bomber lost too much elevation and collided with trees and crashed, killing five and seriously injuring two others.
The four other Army aviators killed were:
2Lt. Thomas N Arrington, Jr, Instructor Pilot
2Lt. Donald E Cochran, Student Pilot
1Lt. Benjamin F Fizzano, Pilot-rated passenger
Sgt. James R York, Flight Engineer
Pvt. James K Blanchard, passenger
Killed in service when B-24D Liberator #42-40535 collided with trees while attempting to land at the Smyrna Army Airfield, Smyrna, Tennessee.
Returning from a triangular navigational training flight that took the crew to Chattanooga, then onward to Knoxville and back to Smyrna, they encountered heavy rain and low visibility. On first attempt to land, the instructor advised the student pilot to fly directly over the runway then to do a go-around. On the second landing attempt, the bomber lost too much elevation and collided with trees and crashed, killing five and seriously injuring two others.
The four other Army aviators killed were:
2Lt. Thomas N Arrington, Jr, Instructor Pilot
2Lt. Donald E Cochran, Student Pilot
1Lt. Benjamin F Fizzano, Pilot-rated passenger
Sgt. James R York, Flight Engineer
Pvt. James K Blanchard, passenger
Returning from a triangular navigational training flight that took the crew to Chattanooga, then onward to Knoxville and back to Smyrna, they encountered heavy rain and low visibility. On first attempt to land, the instructor advised the student pilot to fly directly over the runway then to do a go-around. On the second landing attempt, the bomber lost too much elevation and collided with trees and crashed, killing five and seriously injuring two others.
The four other Army aviators killed were:
2Lt. Thomas N Arrington, Jr, Instructor Pilot
2Lt. Donald E Cochran, Student Pilot
1Lt. Benjamin F Fizzano, Pilot-rated passenger
Sgt. James R York, Flight Engineer
Pvt. James K Blanchard, passenger
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