B-17B # 38-214

History Of Flight:  I have been in contact with the co-pilot, Sid Fouts, and will relay some of his story as I believe it to be an interesting and more accurate account of events than the crash report offers.  

  While on a routine training mission the #1 engine failed resulting in a runaway propeller that was wind-milling at very high RPMs and causing the plane to vibrate heavily.  An attempt to feather the propeller failed since the feathering switches burned out while practicing feathering at high altitude.  An attempt to freeze the motor ( as directed by the tower at D-M Field) by re-starting it resulted in a fire at which the pilot decided to abandon ship.  The co-pilot (2nd. Lt. Sidney Fouts) and the aerial engineer (Sgt. William Regan) managed to escape the spiraling ship, but the rest of the crew was unable to bailout in time.  The other crew members were- 1st. Lt. Donald Johnson, Sgt. Laurel Larsen, Pvt. Herman Dunn, Pvt. Wallace Emerson and Pvt. Leo Thomas.  

   When the engine nacelle was engulfed in flames, the pilot , Lt. Johnson, ordered the crew to bailout while he tried to steady the ship so the crew could exit.  Sgt. Regan then assisted Lt. Fouts in exiting the plane through the top hatch at which point he found himself caught in the slipstream sliding down the fuselage to end up draped over the horizontal stabilizer.  He knew he had to pry himself off the plane before it crashed and did the only thing he could- he pulled his ripcord.  Fortunately, the chute opened and pulled him off the stabilizer.

    Prior to bailout, the men in the back of the plane were put on bailout status and were told if they heard anything at all on the intercom, that it meant only one thing- bailout.  Unfortunately, no one made it out.  Investigation of the wreckage afterwards revealed parachute shroud lines in the back of the ship, indicating that one of the crewmen had opened his chute prematurely in the plane, trapping the men in the back.  

   Today, little is left of Davis-Monthan's first major aircraft crash site.   One could almost walk over it and not even know it was there.  The only remnants of this rare B model are .50 and .30 cal. shell casings, part of an engine mount and firewall, rubber fuel cell parts, and tons of tiny aluminum fragments.  

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