DESERT EXPLORER FINDS HISTORY IN PLANE WRECKAGE

Gleaming dully amidst the mesquite and saguaros of the American Southwest, twisted and scattered remains of military aircraft dot the desert and forests of Arizona.  Often left where they fell, these wrecks stand as mute testimony to the dangers faced by pilots throughout the history of combat aviation.   

            During WWII, the clear skies of the southwestern U.S. made it an ideal training area for the thousands of new aviators who took part on the war.  As in any new endeavor, mistakes and accidents did occur, at times in areas so remote or inaccessible that recovery of the aircraft was impractical. 

            For someone like Trey Brandt, these sites are an irresistible lure.  An avid hiker, Trey got his start in wreck chasing after reading an article on a downed B-24G in northern Arizona.

             “I love hiking; it’s relaxing. I go out, so why not look for something?” Brandt said.

 Even working from military crash reports, finding these site can still be a challenge, according to Brandt, because X doesn’t always mark the spot.

“There are other reports I have where it says (the wreck) is at so and so, but you get out there and sure enough it’s not there,” he said.  “You start hiking around in circles or whatever, and find it half a mile away.”

Brandt estimates he has found more than a hundred crash sites around Arizona, dating from WWII through the Cold War.  Brandt’s interest in these sites is more than just seeing crashed military hardware: he researches the history of the airplane and its crew, including the circumstances around the accident.  On rare occasions, he locates personal belongings of aviators such as dog tags, watches, or jewelry.  He makes every attempt to return these items to family or relatives when possible, but for some items, he just cannot locate next of kin.      

Wreck chasing sometimes has unexpected rewards.  Family members of pilots who lost their lives in crashes he has found have contacted Brandt, as have pilots who have survived and wanted to go out and see the remains of the aircraft they were forced to bail from.

One of these survivors Brandt guided out to a crash site was a pilot of a B-50 who had a mid-air collision with a KB-29 in 1950.  The flight occurred about 45 miles due west of Tucson, during an in-flight refueling, when the KB-29 veered into the B-50 and the aircraft locked wings, causing both aircraft to spin into the desert floor.

Among the worst of the multi-plane crashes Brandt has hiked out to see was that of three AT-6s that went down in a canyon by Crown King.  The pilots had ignored military guidelines on flying through mountainous terrain and were flying at low altitude through the hills.  As they began their ascent out of the canyon, a down draft caught them, preventing the aircraft from clearing the ridge.  The three planes struck the ground one after the other, killing the trainees and instructors on board each plane. 

The wrecks can be scattered across acres of land, and many times the only remains Brandt finds at a site are pieces of canopy, control cables, and scattered debris.  In a mid-air collisions that occurred in 1944 between two B-24’s near what is now Fountain Hills, the military was able to bring recovery trucks to haul away the larger sections of the two bombers.

“A lot of people think that a plane crash is a fully intact plane sitting up on the side of a mountain, but it’s far from that,” Brandt explained.  “These things hit, explode, shatter, and shred.” 

But what the military may feel is not worth the effort of recovery can be a small bit of treasure for a wreck chaser.  Brandt has located WWII-era ID acceptance plates that were attached to all the aircraft after the military deemed them acceptable for service.  These ID plates state that the military inspected the plane and found it satisfactory. 

In the eight years Brandt has been hunting downed aircraft, the most unique item he has found was a largely intact left hand side cockpit console from a Navy F-100A Super Saber, complete with control column.  The aircraft had apparently struck a ridge and cart wheeled for a quarter of a mile before coming to a rest in the area where Brandt found the balled up cockpit.   “It’s the only one I’ve ever found,” he said. 

He has also found a radio from a Navy SBD bomber, .50 cal. machine guns from some of the large bombers, and an early hand-operated “flight computer” used to calculate flight times and distances. 

Finding out about these crash sites can be nearly as difficult as locating them on the ground. 

Brandt’s most useful source of information has been newspaper archives.  Once he has the date of a crash, along with the pilot’s name, he can contact the military with this information and request the crash reports. 

“The Air Force usually sends (crash reports) in a few weeks,” Brandt said, “but I’ve requested some from the Navy months ago I still haven’t got.” 

Brandt is not the only one who has found some of these sites.  High up on the San Francisco Peaks, just north of Flagstaff, are the remains of a B-24 and a B-17.  The aircraft struck the peak within eight days of each other, and on opposite sides of the mountain.  Members of a nearby ski lodge visited the accident scene and erected a monument to the downed aviators.   

These crashes are not limited to Arizona.  Brandt is aware of sites in New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, and has been to a few in California.  He has concentrated on Arizona sites due to the time it takes to find the crashes.  “It’s just too far to go for a day trip,” he said. 

Brandt is currently working on a book describing the sites he has located, and is in the process of recording stories from the pilots and crash investigators who were involved in these accidents.  He has also set up a website for those interested in this little discussed aspect of military aviation. 

Trey Brandt can be contacted via his website at www.aircraftarcheology.com

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