Fall River, Massachusetts – May 29, 1954
B-25 Mitchel bomber
USAF Museum photo
On the morning of May 29, 1954, a B-25 Mitchell Bomber, (Ser. No. 44-31321), with four men aboard, took off from Otis Air Force Base in Falmouth, Massachusetts, bound for Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. A short time later the left engine caught fire and the plane began loosing altitude. Fog and low clouds obscured the ground creating low visibility as the pilot attempted to make an emergency landing at Fall River Airport. As the pilot attempted to line up on a runway the B-25 crashed in a wooded area about one mile east of the airport. The wings and fuselage broke apart but there was no fire.
The pilot, 1st Lieutenant Henry D. Woltz, was killed. The co-pilot, 1st Lt. T. T. Monutz, and the crew chief, Airman 2/c Edward Crowther, were seriously injured. A passenger aboard, Captain Joseph Smith, was able to drag the co-pilot from the gasoline soaked wreck. He then made his way towards the airport for help.
Sources:
Fall River Herald News, “Airman Is Killed In Plane Crash Here”, May 29, 1954, page 1, with photo.
The Provincetown Advocate, (no headline), June 3, 1954.
