B-17G, #42-31296 & P-39Q, #44-2378

History Of Flight:  While on a routine gunnery mission involving a P-39 and a 3-ship formation of B-17's, the P-39 collided with the B-17 flying in the right wing position at an altitude of 12,000ft.  It was determined the P-39 was probably in the gun bearing phase on the lead ship instead of the right wing ship ( which was lagging behind) when the collision occured.  Film footage being shot from the other B-17's for instructional purposes happened to catch the collision, and indicate the P-39 pilot  may have lost vision of the right wing positioned B-17.  The P-39 crossed over the middle section of the B-17 and the leading right wing edge collided with the trailing edge of the B-17's left wing shearing off the P-39's wing and the outer 15-ft wing panel of the B-17.  The P-39 burst into a fireball and the B-17 rolled onto her back and went into an inverted flat spin and fell to the desert floor, trapping all 14 crewmembers ( pilot, co-pilot,  engineer, 2 gunnery instructors and 9 gunnery students) inside.

  In 1996, the B-17 crash site was "re-discovered" upon the request of the son of a fallen crewman. Out of amazing odds, one searcher in our group, Clinton Johnson, actually found the dogtag belonging to the son's father, Pvt. Churchill. Other items we found at the site were parachute harness straps, coins, high altitude fight boots, watch parts, a bent .50 cal machine gun barrel and a 10-karat USAAF airman's ring that I was unable to match with the owner as there were no specific markings.   The following year, a reunion with the crewmen's families was held at Kingman airport and a memorial was dedicated to the fallen airmen.