Date & Time:
Jan 19, 1952 at 1400 LT
Type of aircraft:
North American B-25 Mitchell
Operator:
Registration:
44-86856
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Mather - Mather
MSN:
108-47510
YOM:
1944
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
6
Total fatalities:
6
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from Mather AFB, while in initial climb, the crew informed ground about an engine failure and elected to return for an emergency landing. The pilot-in-command completed a 180 turn to reach the approach path when, on final approach, the twin engine aircraft went out of control and crashed in a crowded guard house at Mather Air Force base and exploded, turning the building into a "flaming matchbox." While all three crew members were injured, six people in the building were killed while 61 others were injured. All of them were guard house prisoners. They returned from lunch to the one-room building just in time to be caught in a fiery trap.
Crew:
2nd Lt Peter A. Keck, pilot,
Lt Robert C. Grout, copilot,
T/Sgt Robert Harrah.
Crew:
2nd Lt Peter A. Keck, pilot,
Lt Robert C. Grout, copilot,
T/Sgt Robert Harrah.
Probable cause:
Engine failure.
