Evan's Crew

On 6 Feb 45, a/c 43-37992, with the Evan's crew aboard, was returning from an operational mission of longer than usual duration., which necessitated over half the a/c on the mission to land on the continent due to fuel shortage, and/or bad weather on return route. A/C #992 became lost on trying to return to base. This fact is because of the location of the crash (southern England), which is approximately one hundred miles south of its home base. From northern France, the path of flight was south of the briefed course of return increasing to a point where the crash took place. All the occupants of the a/c were killed, and there were no witnesses to the accident. Because of the location, no photos were taken and no inspection of the a/c made.

Weather conditions at the time of the accident were very bad. There was a 10/10 overcast at 100 feet extending up to as high as 15,00 ft in places. There was light intermittent rain in the vicinity which cut down visibility even under the overcast. This forecast was taken from Ford, England (an RAF base), which was approximately ten miles from the scene of the crash and at a lower altitude. At the time of the crash, ceiling was zero and visibility nil. In the neighborhood of where the crash occurred, there is a small ridge of hills that ran parallel to the coast line extending up as high as 800 ft in places and 30 to 40 miles in length. (NARA via Roland Andrews).

Created: 09/16/99

Modified: 09/16/99

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