Westover Field – October 25, 1945
Updated February 5, 2022
C-54 Skymaster
U. S. Air Force Photo.
On October 25, 1945, a four-engine C-54 aircraft, (Ser. No. 42-72321), with a crew of five men aboard, was practicing IFR rules instrument approaches to Westover Airfield when the aircraft developed a serious hydraulic fluid leak, which led to trouble with the landing flaps. Standard remedies were instituted but they failed, and the aircraft began to become hard to handle. The order to bail out was given, and the now unmanned aircraft crashed in a remote area of the airfield and exploded.
One member of the crew, Corporal George K. Holloway, 24, reportedly struck a portion of the aircraft when he bailed out and was rendered unconscious, and thereby incapable of pulling the rip cord of his parachute. He’s buried in Odd fellows Cemetery in Ponca City, Oklahoma.
Two other crew members, Sergeant Charles E. Walker of Long Beach, California, was seriously injured when he made a hard landing on a concrete strip, and Sergeant Bernard J. Lance of Flushing, New York, suffered minor injuries when he landed.
The pilot and co-pilot were not injured.
Sources:
Unknown newspaper, “Flier Killed At Westover”, October 26, 1945
www.findagrave.com
Book: “Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents In The United States, 1941-1945”, by Anthony J. Mireles, C. 2006
