Grenier Field, New Hampshire – April 2, 1942
Douglas A-20 Havoc
U.S. Air Force Photo
At 9:15 a.m., on April 2, 1942, a Douglas A-20 Havoc, (Ser. No. 40-108) with a crew of four aboard, took off from Grenier Field in Manchester, New Hampshire, for a training flight. Just after becoming airborne the pilot discovered that the landing gear would not retract. He circled the airfield to land the plane, but aborted the attempt when he discovered further problems with the hydraulic pressure system. After gaining sufficient altitude, the crew worked on fixing the problems.
After making temporary repairs, the pilot was cleared to land on runway 17, but upon touching down the brakes failed while the plane was halfway down the runway. The pilot couldn’t retract the landing gear, and was unable ground loop the aircraft. After avoiding some sandbag obstructions the aircraft plowed though a fence and was wrecked. Fortunately the crew escaped with minor injuries.
The crew included:
(Pilot) 1st Lt. Lloyd A. Walker
Lt. Col. Talma W. Inlay
Corporal Charles B. Gannon, Jr.
Pfc. Gaetano Pagliuco
Source: U.S. Army Air Corps Technical Report Of Aircraft Accident #42-4-2-1
