“Normal Requirement” The Navy’s Worst Ever Aircraft Accident

I'm going to post stories about the many aviation accidents that I have investigated. I thought I'd start with the Navy's Worst Ever Aircraft Accident>
A PB4Y-1 accident on the island of Eniwetok in the Pacific is the greatest loss of aircraft due to a
single aircraft crash in U.S. Naval history! And you probably never heard of it. Now the story is told!
I welcome your comments and I'm always looking for more info/pictures about them.

intro:
There were many tragic accidents with great loss of life and aircraft during World War
Two. One accident in particular stands out from the rest due to the greatest number of aircraft
destroyed and damaged due to one accident. Normal requirements at forward operating bases
during wartime were very different than stateside training. The fast paced drive across the vast
Pacific stretched resources and pushed aircraft to their limits and beyond. Exceeding the
maximum gross takeoff weight allowance in PB4Y-1 aircraft became routine and was the
normal requirement during wartime operations. Overcrowding at tiny Naval Advanced Bases
(NAB) in the South Pacific was also a normal requirement during a time when supplies and
aircraft were building up for the drive to defeat Japan. These two factors lead to one of the wars
most tragic events when over a hundred aircraft were destroyed as a result of these wartime
operating conditions.

Thanks Dave. As morbid as it sounds, looking forward to the series

First installment was good, looking forward to many more!

Me too.

The quote from the CO is interesting: "The accident was due to failure of the pilot to react to imperceptible drift......" So pilots are supposed to react to imperceptible factors?

Wow ! I've heard of some devastating creashes, but this one takes the cake. Hope to see more of the sxeries.

Charles

Interesting!