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1943 Liberator crash at Whenuapai

Gyro horizon from a B-24 Liberator
Accident
Date	2 August 1943
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)
Site	New Zealand 36°46′35.06″S 174°38′43.15″E / 36.7764056°S 174.6453194°E / -36.7764056; 174.6453194
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express
Operator	United Airlines
Registration	41-24027
Flight origin	Whenuapai Aerodrome
Destination	RAAF Base Amberley
Passengers	25
Crew	5
Fatalities	16
Survivors	14

The 1943 Liberator crash at Whenuapai was an aircraft accident in New Zealand during World War II.

History

The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express aircraft, owned by the USAAF and operated using a United Airlines crew, was transferring Japanese men, women, and children of the Consular Corps, to exchange for Allied POWs. On 2 August 1943, it took off from Whenuapai Aerodrome runway 04 at 2:20 am, with rain and fog conditions at minimums for departure, and quickly passed through low stratus. Captain Herschel Laughlin's gyro horizon had inadvertently been left caged – while the instrument displayed level flight, the aircraft entered a steepening bank to the left. The crew detected the problem in a few seconds, but as the aircraft was straightening up and levelling out, it hit the ground at about 322 km/h (200 mph), bounced a few times and exploded. The third bounce threw its first officer, R. John Wisda, out through the canopy; he rolled end over end about 100 metres (330 ft) through mud and reeds. A medic later found him trying to keep warm near a burning tyre. R. John Wisda survived the crash. The major factors of the accident were the lack of a pre-flight checklist, and crew fatigue (126 flying hours in the last 26 days).

The crash killed three of the five crew (United States nationals), and eleven of the twenty-five passengers (eight Japanese and three Thai nationals). Two additional passengers died later from injuries. TSS Wahine took the surviving internees from Wellington to Sydney three months later.

TVNZ covered the crash during the programme Secret New Zealand in 2003, and posited the accident was covered up, due to concerns of reprisals against POWs.

Crash site

The aircraft crashed to the ground 1¼ miles NNE of Whenuapai airfield.

References

1. "Airbus crash not on list of casualties". New Zealand Herald. 28 November 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
2. "August 1943 USAAF Overseas Accident Reports". Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
3. ^ Livingstone, Bob (1998). Under the Southern Cross: The B-24 Liberator in the South Pacific. Turner. p. 115. ISBN 1-56311-432-1. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
4. Mackay, Jamie. "Pearce, Edna Bertha 1906 - 1995". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
5. King, John (1995). Aviation Accidents and Disasters. New Zealand Tragedies. Wellington: Grantham House. p. 136. ISBN 1-86934-042-6.
6. Bevan, E. Denys (4 November 1991). "Liberator: The Facts". The Listener.
7. Sim, J. W. (November 1988). "Letter". New Zealand Wings.
8. Roscoe, Bruce (2007). Windows on Japan. Algora. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-87586-491-4. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
9. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express 41-24027 Whenuapai Air Base". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 19 October 2020.

• 1943 in New Zealand
• Aviation accidents and incidents caused by pilot error
• 1940s in Auckland
• Aviation accidents and incidents in New Zealand
• Aviation accidents and incidents in 1943
• Accidents and incidents involving the Consolidated B-24 Liberator
• United Airlines accidents and incidents
• 1943 disasters in New Zealand