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A B-29 Superfortress similar to the accident aircraft
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Accident | |
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Date | 6 October 1948[1] |
Summary | Faulty maintenance[2] |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Boeing B-29 Superfortress |
Operator | United States Air Force |
Registration | 45-21866 |
Crew | 13 |
Survivors | 4 (3 military, 1 civilian) |
The 1948 Waycross B-29 crash occurred on 6 October 1948[1] when an engine fire contributed to the crash of a Boeing B-29-100-BW Superfortress bomberinWaycross, Georgia. The plane was from the 3150th Electronics Squadron,[3] United States Air Force and had tail number 45-21866. The crash occurred during a climb to altitude from the Robins Air Force Base and killed nine of thirteen men aboard, including three RCA engineers.[1] Four men parachuted to safety. Because the flight was a test of the "sunseeker"[dubious – discuss] (aheat-seeking device later used in the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile), the federal government asserted the state secrets privilege to avoid having to provide the Air Force's accident report in a subsequent suit for damages by victims of the crash and their heirs, despite the device playing no role in the crash itself and not being referred to in the report.
A $225,000 summary judgment against the government and for the contractor's widows was directed when the government claimed the accident report, as well as documents with surviving crewmember statements, could not be furnished "without seriously hampering national security". However, the Supreme Court overturned the judgment under state secrets privilege. Nevertheless, the Air Force agreed to pay an out-of-court settlement of $170,000. Decades later the declassified accident report indicated the cause to have been a fire and drop in manifold pressure in the number 1 engine, as well as an inadvertent feathering of the number 4 engine, which was not successfully unfeathered prior to the crash. The report indicated the cause of the fire in engine 1 could not be positively determined, but was likely to have been the result of breaks in the right exhaust collector ring. The report further stated that "the fire may have been aggravated by non-compliance with Technical Orders 01-20EJ-117 and 01-20EJ-178." It concluded that the aircraft was "not considered safe for flight" due to non-compliance with these orders.[4] A consequent lawsuit to reopen the case[1] claimed that the report's information about the cause was not secret and alleged a government coverup, but the case was not reopened.[5]
Siegel, Barry (2008). Claim of Privilege: A Mysterious Plane Crash, a Landmark Supreme Court Case, and the Rise of State Secrets. Harper. ISBN 978-0060777029.
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See also: Boeing B-17 family |
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1940s
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This list is incomplete. |
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1948 (1948)
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Jan 7 Jan 28 Jan 30 Mar 2 Mar 10 Mar 12 Northwest Airlines Flight 4422 Apr 5 Apr 15 Apr 21 British European Airways Flight S200P May 12 1948 Sabena Douglas DC-4 crash May 17 Cebu Philippine Air Lines DC-3 crash Jun 17 Jul 1 Keerbergen Fiat G.212 airplane crash Jul 4 Jul 16 Jul 21 Jul 24 Aug 1 Aug 29 Sep 2 Australian National Airways DC-3 crash Oct 1 Oct 2 Oct 6 Oct 12 Oct 20 Dec 28 Airborne Transport DC-3 disappearance | |