1943 Whenuapai Consolidated Liberator crash

1943 aviation accident January 2023 January 2023 1943 Whenuapai Consolidated Liberator crash Aerial Photo of Debris (14714239936).jpg The wreckage of the plane after crashing 1943 08 02 y Controlled flight into terrain Accident New Zealand 36 46 35.06 S 174 38 43.15 E type:event inline,title Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express United Air Lines under contract with United States Army Air Force 41-24027 Whenuapai Aerodrome, Whenuapai, New Zealand RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, Australia 30 25 5 16 14 The 1943 Whenuapai Consolidated Liberator crash was an aircraft accident that occurred in New Zealand on 2 August 1943 during World War II. The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express was owned by the USAAF and was crewed by United Air Lines.http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10545568 Airbus crash not on list of casualties 28 November 2008 New Zealand Herald 2009-04-20http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Aug1943O.htm August 1943 USAAF Overseas Accident Reports Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research 2009-04-20 https://web.archive.org/web/20090503181610/http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/AARmonthly/Aug1943O.htm 3 May 2009 live Accident The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express aircraft was transferring Japanese men, women, and children of the Consular Corps, to exchange for Allied POWs.Livingstone Bob Under the Southern Cross: The B-24 Liberator in the South Pacific Turner 1998 115 1-56311-432-1 https://books.google.com/books?id=YbefAXLgqbMC&dq=24027&pg=PA115 20 April 2009 On 2 August 1943, it took off from Whenuapai Aerodrome runway 04 at 2:20 am, with rain and fog conditions at minimums for departure, and quickly passed through low stratus. Captain Herschel Laughlin's gyro horizon had inadvertently been left caged – while the instrument displayed level flight, the aircraft entered a steepening bank to the left. The crew detected the problem in a few seconds, but as the aircraft was straightening up and levelling out, it hit the ground at about 322 km/h mph on, bounced a few times and exploded. The third bounce threw its first officer, R. John Wisda, out through the canopy; he rolled end over end about 100 m ft through mud and reeds. A medic later found him trying to keep warm near a burning tyre. R. John Wisda survived the crash. The major factors of the accident were the lack of a pre-flight checklist, and crew fatigue (126 flying hours in the last 26 days). Aftermath TVNZ covered the crash during the programme Secret New Zealand in 2003, and posited the accident was covered up, due to concerns of reprisals against POWs.Roscoe Bruce https://books.google.com/books?id=OxXQ-gn3WgcC&pg=PA262 Windows on Japan Algora 2007 978-0-87586-491-4 262 20 April 2009 References Category:1943 in New Zealand Category:Aviation accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Category:1940s in Auckland Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in New Zealand Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1943 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Consolidated B-24 Liberator Category:United Airlines accidents and incidents Category:1943 disasters in New Zealand Category:August 1943 in Oceania