Date & Time:
Apr 4, 1943 at 1400 LT
Type of aircraft:
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
Operator:
Registration:
41-24301
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Bombing
Survivors:
No
Site:
Desert
Schedule:
Soluch - Soluch
MSN:
1096
YOM:
1943
Country:
Libya
Region:
Africa
Crew on board:
9
Crew fatalities:
9
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
9
Circumstances:
Following a bombing mission over Naples, Italy, the aircraft failed to return to its base in Soluch, Libya. During the back trip, the crew radioed he lost his automatic direction finder and requested ground vector. Due to poor visibility, the crew overflew Soluch Airport and continued to the south. Two hours later, due to fuel exhaustion, the crew decided to abandon the aircraft and bailed out. The four-engine aircraft continued for 26 km to the south before crashing in the Calanshio Sand Sea, about 710 km southeast of Soluch. USAF authorities thought that the aircraft crashed into the Mediterranean sea and the SAR operations were unable to find any trace of the aircraft or the crew. On November 9, 1958, a British oil exploration team located the crash site for the first time. Five bodies were found in May 1960 dozen km away from the wreckage.
Probable cause:
According to the Graves Registration Service, the aircraft flew on a 150 degree course toward Benina Airfield (Soluch Airport). The craft radioed for a directional reading from the HF/DF station at Benina and received a reading of 330 degrees from Benina. The actions of the pilot in flying 440 miles into the desert, however, indicate the navigator probably took a reciprocal reading off the back of the radio directional loop antenna from a position beyond and south of Benina but on course. The pilot flew into the desert, thinking he was still over the Mediterranean and on his way to Benina.
