Aircraft Wrecks of the Pacific Northwest

Merriam Press Aviation History Series

First Edition 2013

Aviation archaeology has grown significantly within the past ten years and is represented by groups throughout the entire United States and several countries abroad, mainly in Europe. As aircraft wrecks become much older, their historical significance becomes much greater. It is hoped by many modern day aviation archaeologists that with more public awareness, the historical significance becomes better understood and valued, and that many of these old crash sites will be saved and protected. Most surviving family members of those who lost their lives in these accidents consider these sites as hallowed ground and the mention of these to surviving crewmembers themselves still brings tears to their eyes.

Recently, it has become fairly common for surviving family members to contact aviation archaeology groups in an effort to locate crash sites to help bring some type of closure to these families. As a group, we have been successful in making these connections, and in expressing our gratitude in helping with this effort, many aviation archaeologists have spent a lot of their own money, time, and research establishing and building memorials at these sites. It is an expression of their own respect for these families.

Contents

Missing B-18 Bomber Found on Oregon’s Wolf Mountain

Pikes Peak Claims B-17E 41-2598

Solving the Mystery of P-38E 41-2276

Two Dog Night in Ephrata

Cape Lookout, Oregon: Low Flying B-17 Lost In Fog

B-17 Spins Down From 20,000 Feet

P-38 Exceeds Design Speed Limits

B-24 Strikes Mountain Ridge On Night Training Flight

Vertigo Claims The Life Of A Young Navy Pilot

P-38 Spins Out of the Clouds

B-24 Night Training Flight Ends Near Ukiah, Oregon

F6F Hellcat Mysteriously Disappears From Pasco Naval Air Station

B-24 Orienting For Instrument Practice Hits Mt. Harrison

High-Altitude Stall Destroys Liberator

B-24 Formation Flight Collides With Mountain At Night

Carburetor Icing Dooms TBM Avenger Above Oregon’s Blue Mountains

B-25 Carrying Material From Maury Island UFO Incident Crashes

B-29 On Training Mission For New Bomb Group Hits Mt. Spokane

Northwest Airlines Martin 202 Dives Into Farm Field

Snowblind: Rescue B-17 in Trouble

Control Locking Mechanism Dooms C-124 Globemaster

F-86D Sabre Fades From Radar

Republic RF-84K Falls From Sky On To Riblet’s Bluff

First of its Type: West Coast Airlines Loses a DC-9 by Dan Thomas Nelson

Explosion From Boeing B-47 Crash Observed Fifty Miles Away

Day Mountain Claims KC-135A ‘Mourn 79’

Shadow Mountain Wreck: Faulty Altimeter Setting Claims KC-135A

Japan Air Lines Convair 880: Training Flight’s Tragic End

Engine Fire Brings Down Lockheed C-130 Hercules Near Bliss, Idaho

Eyewitness to Navy EA-6B Prowler Crash

West Coast Airlines F-27 Hits Stukel Mountain During Snow Storm

Crewless B-17 Bomber Crashes Near Harvard, Idaho

Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat Strikes Low Hill On Night Strafing Mission

Appendix 1: Washington State Crash Locator List

Appendix 2: Oregon Crash Locator List

Appendix 3: Idaho Crash Locator List

354 color, 42 B&W photos, bibliography