Crash of a Lockheed C-40D Electra Junior in Mt Howe Brook: 6 killed
Date & Time:
May 24, 1942 at 1135 LT
Operator:
Registration:
42-22249
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Bolling Field – Montreal – Presque Isle – Houlton – Montreal – Bolling Field
MSN:
1273
YOM:
1942
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
4
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
The aircraft left Bolling Field AFB (Washington DC) on May 23 bound for Houlton, Maine, with intermediate stops in Montreal and Presque Isle. The crew left Montreal at 0934LT on May 24 with a crew of two and four passengers, among them Lt Col Louis Gimbel. En route, while cruising at an altitude of 5,000 feet, the crew requested to climb to 7,000 feet and confirmed an ETA at 1134LT. In poor weather conditions, the crew was unable to locate the airport of Presque Isle and Houlton. Eventually, the aircraft hit tree tops and crashed in a dense wooded area located in the Howe Brook mountain range, between Presque Isle and Houlton. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all six occupants were killed.
Crew:
1st Lt Clarence Wright, pilot,
S/Sgt Frederick Taylor, flight engineer.
Passengers:
Lt Col Louis Gimbel,
Cpt John Franciscus,
Cpt Gilbert Herbach,
2nd Lt Earl Wilkinson.
Sources & photos: http://www.mewreckchasers.com/C40.html
Crew:
1st Lt Clarence Wright, pilot,
S/Sgt Frederick Taylor, flight engineer.
Passengers:
Lt Col Louis Gimbel,
Cpt John Franciscus,
Cpt Gilbert Herbach,
2nd Lt Earl Wilkinson.
Sources & photos: http://www.mewreckchasers.com/C40.html
Probable cause:
The board of inquiry was unable to determine a cause, but listed weather and pilot inexperience under instrument conditions as factors.
