B-29 losses

[dmether]

Thought this was interesting, how many B-29's were lost after the war ended.
16 Aug 45:
44-69941, on a test flight crashed just after takeoff from Tinian. Of 8 on board, 1 was rescued.

28 Aug 45:
44-69998, took off from Saipan to drop supplies on a POW camp in Japan. Never heard from after takeoff, all 12 on board are missing.

30 Aug 45:
44-61554, dropping supplies on a POW camp in Japan. Never heard from after taking off from Tinian, 14 on board.

44-83942, took off from Florida Blanca, Luzon flying to Guam with 10 on board. Nobody knows what happened to it.

4 Sept 45:
44-61786, crashed just off Kwajalein Island. 16 on board, all perished.

44-61666, on it way to drop supplies on a POW camp in Japan. 14 on board. Was never heard from after it took off from Saipan.

42-65345, dropping supplies on a POW camp near Tokyo. Pilot got lost in the clouds and flew into a mountain, all 14 on board killed.

5 Sept 45:
42-65343, this one didn’t crash. The co-pilot fell out the bomb bay while dropping supplies on a POW camp in China.

7 Sept 45:
42-93907, crew of 11 with 3 passengers suffered a mechanical failure flying from Tinian to Fukuoka, Japan to drop supplies for the POW camp. 8 men survived the crash.

3 Oct 45:
44-69792, out of Guam had an engine failure and crashed into the sea killing 9 out of a crew of 10.

5 Oct 45:
44-61663, crashed while landing on Saipan. That one had a crew of 6 and 14 passengers on the way back to the States, two hours out of Saipan it had to return. Crash killed all but 4.

7 Oct 45:
44-83964, lost an engine then had a prop tear off. It was carrying a crew of 9 with 2 passengers from Okinawa to Guam. Most of the men survived but 2 were never found.

10 Oct 45:
44-70122, went down in the Northern Pacific for reasons unknown.

[okla]

Hey dm....Interesting stuff. Losing people in the line of duty during combat is always tragic, but to lose folks after the shooting has stopped is more so to me. I would imagine a lot of these guys dodged Japanese flak and Zero interceptors prior to V-J Day, only to perish while flying humanitarian missions. Truly sad. Reminds me of the POWs who were killed in a supply drop when one of the 'chutes failed to open and the crates fell into a group of emaciated survivors of the Hell Ships. Now that is double tough to stomach. Thanks for posting.

[dmether]

10 September 1945 was another bad day for former POW's, two B-24's went down in a typhoon on the way from China and the other Okinawa, to Manila, both carrying released POW's.

[BShay]

The first B-29 (44-69941) was my grandfather's (William G. Engels) plane throughout much of the war. He was participating in a crochet tournament and didn't go up that day. It was a hodgepodge crew put together from several crews. He took it very hard since the war had already ended... It was an unexpected blow. The pilot was one of his dear friends and was very skilled at his job. I discovered all of this information from reading personal letters he wrote.

[BShay]

Jul 12, 2015 23:21:43 GMT 8 BShay said:

The first B-29 (44-69941) was my grandfather's (William G. Engels) plane throughout much of the war. He was participating in a crochet tournament and didn't go up that day. It was a hodgepodge crew put together from several crews. He took it very hard since the war had already ended... It was an unexpected blow. The pilot was one of his dear friends and was very skilled at his job. I discovered all of this information from reading personal letters he wrote.

Also, on Nov. 5th, 1945, he had to bail from another B-29
(44-70005) "Herd of Bald Goats" a mile off of Saipan. The pilot was the only casualty after a third engine failure made them drop 1000 feet a minute.

[okla]

Hey Guys....Very interesting stats regarding losses due to mostly mechanical issues and other non-combat related reasons. This goes to reinforce my 100 percent faith in the old, reliable C-47 "Gooney Bird", the most trustworthy, durable, aero-dynamically sound, etc Aircraft ever to grace the skies in my humble. Way back in 1952 I was a passenger on one of those "old birds" when we lost an engine half way between Fukuoka, Japan and Suwon, Korea. Our Pilot landed at Taegu without missing a beat. After a couple of hours of some parts replacement activity, we were on our way. I would rather travel via those old crates than aboard a lot of the stuff we have today. Nostalgia strikes again. Cheers.

[Bobbye]

My father was one of the two men who were lost in the B29 crash on October 7, 1945. I was two years old at the time. I have in my possession the government documents of what happened to that plane. I also have a letter from the pilot of the plane to my mother. My oldest son was born on the 17th anniversary of the loss of my father.

[beirutvet]

Bobbye

Belated condolences on the loss of your father.  As Okla stated, losses in war is one thing, losses after the fighting has stopped is tough to stomach.

Is it possible to see those documents and that letter you speak of?  You have a whole bevy of anxious and dedicated amateur historians here who would love to see these original documents.  Believe me, they would be appreciated, you are among friends here.

[cbuehler]

The B-29 was the most advanced aircraft of its type in ww2, but beset with problems, mostly due to the engines. It was amazing that they could push through and actually put into operation an aircraft so advanced in such a short time, but it did not come without cost.
They were able to overcome most of the problems that plagued early production with the later post war aircraft and different engines.

CB