Date & Time:
Oct 30, 1935
Type of aircraft:
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
Operator:
Registration:
NX13372
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Test
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Dayton - Dayton
MSN:
1963
YOM:
1935
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
2
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The crew was performing a local test flight on this first prototype of the Boeing 299 (registered NX13372 - 'X13372') which will be renamed later Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Shortly after take off from Wilbur Wright Field located near Dayton, the aircraft stalled and crashed in an open field located just past the runway end, bursting into flames. The pilot was killed while three other occupants were seriously injured. One of the survivor, the flight engineer, died few days later. Wilbur Wright Field became in 1948 Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The captain who was killed was Major Ployer Peter Hill, an American aviator who will give his name to the Ogden Air Base in Utah on December 1, 1939. The flight engineer was Les Tower.
Probable cause:
It was determined that the loss of control after takeoff was the consequence of locked ailerons.
