Munson, FL Two Navy Bombers Crash In Flames, May 1946

27 KILLED WHEN 2 NAVY BOMBERS CRASH IN FLAMES.

PLANES COLLIDE DURING AIR MANEUVER IN FLORIDA AS HELLCAT FIGHTER DIVES TOWARD THEM.

BODIES ARE TAKEN FROM THE WRECKAGE.

Names Not Given Out -- Accident First in Advanced Training Command Since December, 1945.

Munson, Fla., May 10 -- (AP) -- Twenty-eight airmen were killed today when two big four-engined navy planes crashed in flames in a remote wooded area eight miles north of here.
Officers at the Pensacola naval air station, where the planes were based, said they collided in flight during an air maneuver.
Fourteen bodies were recovered from the wreckage of one ship and 13 from the other, an announcement said. One other body with an unopened parachute was found near by.
The planes, identified as PB-4Y's, were engaged in training maneuvers and were accompanied by an F6F Hellcat fighter.
Word of the collision was radioed by the accompanying fighter plane to nearby Whitting field.
Fighter Lands Safely.
The fighter craft landed safely later.
Naval officers said the names of the victims would not be announced until the next of kin had been notified.
A statement issued by the navy said:
"The two planes that crashed today were PB-4Y's. They were flying in a phase of a training program with an F6F Hellcat fighter plane."
"As part of the maneuver, the F6F dove at the PB-4Y's. The bombers attempted to outmaneuver the fighter plane and went into a turn. In the process of the turn, the PB-4Y which was flying wing portion collided with the lead plane."
"One engine in the lead plane was knocked out and that plane immediately went into a spin and crashed. The other plane flew straight and level for a short time and also spun in and crashed."
"One body was seen to leave the second plane and was later found."
"This is the first accident of PB-4Y's in the advance training command since December 12, 1945. Since that time the PB-4Y advanced training command has flown 24,000 operating hours without an accident, until the one today."
CHARLES BRACKINS, 72-year-old farmer, said he was plowing in a field when he heard the noise of planes flying overhead.
"Two planes were flying side by side, maneuvering as they flew, and a smaller one darted in from the left apparently trying to fly under the two larger planes."
Plane Turned Over.
"The smaller plane struck one of the larger planes near it in the tail and bounded over the two ships. Pieces of the larger plane filled the air, and the impact threw the first plane against the second."
He said he saw the first plane start turning over and explode in the air as it fell. The second plane, he said, turned over slowly three or four times and crashed to the ground, catching fire and exploding after it fell.
"I saw a body lying by the side of the road close to me buried under an engine. For about an hour after the plane fell there were loud explosions which apparently came from shells in the two ships."
"The bodies were scattered all over the place. It was a horrible sight."

Joplin Globe Missouri 1946-05-11
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!