Second Lieutenant, 2523 Base Unit from Hondo Army Airfield, Texas.
Pilot of Beechcraft AT-7C Navigator #43-50099. While on a navigational training flight from Texas to West Palm Beach, via Tallahassee, Florida, the aircrew encountered stormy clouds and dropped down below their assigned 5,000 foot flight path. A ground witness north of Mobile, Alabama observed the plane pass overhead at about 1,000 feet with its engines sputtering. Moments later the sound of a crash was heard.
Rescue personnel did not locate the wreck in the thick trees near Axis, Alabama, until the following day. All five airmen aboard had perished.
Investigators speculated the pilot had switched to an auxiliary fuel tank for training purposes, and while being distracted by the avoidance of the low clouds, forgot to switch back to the main fuel system, and when fuel starvation occurred, he was unable to restart the motors in time due to their low proximity to the ground and crashed.
The other four men were:
1LT Alfred P Akelaitis, O-432777, PA, Co-Pilot
1LT E Milton Adelman, O-707203, MA, Navigator
1LT William P Anton, O-796939, NH, Navigator
1LT George W Conly, O-698177, VT, Navigator
Pilot of Beechcraft AT-7C Navigator #43-50099. While on a navigational training flight from Texas to West Palm Beach, via Tallahassee, Florida, the aircrew encountered stormy clouds and dropped down below their assigned 5,000 foot flight path. A ground witness north of Mobile, Alabama observed the plane pass overhead at about 1,000 feet with its engines sputtering. Moments later the sound of a crash was heard.
Rescue personnel did not locate the wreck in the thick trees near Axis, Alabama, until the following day. All five airmen aboard had perished.
Investigators speculated the pilot had switched to an auxiliary fuel tank for training purposes, and while being distracted by the avoidance of the low clouds, forgot to switch back to the main fuel system, and when fuel starvation occurred, he was unable to restart the motors in time due to their low proximity to the ground and crashed.
The other four men were:
1LT Alfred P Akelaitis, O-432777, PA, Co-Pilot
1LT E Milton Adelman, O-707203, MA, Navigator
1LT William P Anton, O-796939, NH, Navigator
1LT George W Conly, O-698177, VT, Navigator
Second Lieutenant, 2523 Base Unit from Hondo Army Airfield, Texas.
Pilot of Beechcraft AT-7C Navigator #43-50099. While on a navigational training flight from Texas to West Palm Beach, via Tallahassee, Florida, the aircrew encountered stormy clouds and dropped down below their assigned 5,000 foot flight path. A ground witness north of Mobile, Alabama observed the plane pass overhead at about 1,000 feet with its engines sputtering. Moments later the sound of a crash was heard.
Rescue personnel did not locate the wreck in the thick trees near Axis, Alabama, until the following day. All five airmen aboard had perished.
Investigators speculated the pilot had switched to an auxiliary fuel tank for training purposes, and while being distracted by the avoidance of the low clouds, forgot to switch back to the main fuel system, and when fuel starvation occurred, he was unable to restart the motors in time due to their low proximity to the ground and crashed.
The other four men were:
1LT Alfred P Akelaitis, O-432777, PA, Co-Pilot
1LT E Milton Adelman, O-707203, MA, Navigator
1LT William P Anton, O-796939, NH, Navigator
1LT George W Conly, O-698177, VT, Navigator
Pilot of Beechcraft AT-7C Navigator #43-50099. While on a navigational training flight from Texas to West Palm Beach, via Tallahassee, Florida, the aircrew encountered stormy clouds and dropped down below their assigned 5,000 foot flight path. A ground witness north of Mobile, Alabama observed the plane pass overhead at about 1,000 feet with its engines sputtering. Moments later the sound of a crash was heard.
Rescue personnel did not locate the wreck in the thick trees near Axis, Alabama, until the following day. All five airmen aboard had perished.
Investigators speculated the pilot had switched to an auxiliary fuel tank for training purposes, and while being distracted by the avoidance of the low clouds, forgot to switch back to the main fuel system, and when fuel starvation occurred, he was unable to restart the motors in time due to their low proximity to the ground and crashed.
The other four men were:
1LT Alfred P Akelaitis, O-432777, PA, Co-Pilot
1LT E Milton Adelman, O-707203, MA, Navigator
1LT William P Anton, O-796939, NH, Navigator
1LT George W Conly, O-698177, VT, Navigator
Inscription
Lieutenant
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
