The B-24 began a  leisurely cruise  back to base at 2,800 feet with a relaxed flight crew engaged in casual conversation.  The aircraft checked out perfectly, so there was nothing more to do but return the aircraft to base and release it for overseas delivery.

 Suddenly, without warning, the #3 and  #4 engines quit.  The aircraft went into a violent uncontrolled right turn and began to lose altitude rapidly.   With only 2,800 feet of altitude, there simply wasn't enough time to find the reason and attempt a restart.  The pilot, Lt. Weller, was way too busy just trying to get the nose heavy aircraft back into level flight before impact with the ground. To do so, he had to reduce the power on the two left engines (viz., #1 and #2).  If he did not reduce the power on those two engines, the aircraft would have rolled over on its back and plummeted straight into the ground.

 Copilot Pifer made a quick scan of the engine instruments and noticed that the #3 and #4 engines had zero fuel pressure.  He instantly turned on both engine fuel boost pumps, but still could not get any fuel pressure to the engines.  All he could do now was to feather the propellers on both engines and try to secure the electrical system before impact.

 Sgt. Robbins became aware of a problem when he was knocked off his feet by the sudden banking maneuver. He had been  standing in the rear of the bomb bay inspecting the source of the hydraulic leak.  After regaining his footing, he made his way up to the flight deck where he could look out the right side of the cockpit.  He saw that the #3 and #4 engines were not running, and in fact, #3 had been feathered, while #4 was just wind milling.

 The flight deck was too crowded for him to get all the way up there.  Later, from his hospital bed, he stated that if he could have gotten access to the Flight Engineer's station, he might have been able to determine what had gone wrong.

 While leaning through the doorway, he heard the pilot say: "We gotta get out of here!"  After hearing that statement, Sgt. Robbins immediately began to put his parachute on.  But then, he looked outside again and noticed that they were too low to safely bail out.  He knew they were going to have to ride the ship down.  Therefore he braced himself as best he could.

 Back on the flight deck, Lt. Pifer was still trying to feather the #4 propeller and secure the aircraft for a crash landing.  Weller was still trying to get the aircraft leveled out, but was having little success.  He had applied full left rudder and full left aileron and still could not get the aircraft to level out.  It became obvious that they were not going to make it back to the airfield.

 Their only hope was to make a controlled crash.  A "controlled crash" is a crash where the pilot knows the airplane is going to crash and attempts to fly the airplane into the ground while it's still under control.  If a pilot attempt to keep a doomed aircraft in the air too long, an uncontrolled crash will result.  That situation will almost guarantee a fatal outcome for all onboard!

 As the ground rushed up at them, Pifer also noticed that the airspeed was getting dangerously low, and that the #4 propeller was still not feathered.  By now, they had simply run out of time.  The sparse vegetation on the terrain below was now clearly visible as it passed under the nose of the rapidly descending bomber.

 At about 300 feet above the ground, Weller finally got the aircraft in a wings level position.  Pifer reached up and placed his hand on the switch for the main electrical line.  With his finger resting on the switch, he turned his heard forward again just as the B-24 stalled and crashed to the ground nose first.  He never had time to throw the switch.  He later estimated their altitude at the time of the stall at not more than about 10 feet above the ground.

 Sgt. Robbins and Sgt. Kincaid received major, but not life threatening  injuries in the crash, and were able to extricate themselves from the wreckage unaided.  Most of the crash damage to the aircraft was confined to the nose section.  Lt. Weller, PFC  Buck, Lt. Szemetko, and Lt. Buffington were not so lucky.  They were all killed upon impact.

 Miraculously, Lt. Pifer survived the crash, but not without receiving major injuries.  As miraculous was the fact that even though there was still more than 2,200 gallons of  high octane  aviation gas onboard, the wreck did not immediately catch fire.

 Pifer remembers the violent jolt of impact, and then found himself entangled in the wreckage of what was once the cockpit.  He looked to his left to see how badly  Lt. Weller was injured.   But where Weller once sat, was now just a mass of wreckage, wires and broken Plexiglas.

 Soon he realized that he was still in his copilot's seat, but was now trapped within  the wreckage of the cockpit.  He was very aware that the ship could catch fire at any moment, so he struggled to free himself as quickly as possible.  After a few minutes he was able to get free and climbed out of the wreckage through a broken Plexiglas window.

 There was no time for the radio operator to send a distress call before the crash.  The radio had been shut down as required for the fuel transfer test.  However, the crash was witnessed by some local residents who notified the airbase.  Fire trucks were soon on their way to the scene.  There was no large column of black smoke to guide them, so it took a little longer for them to locate the right area.

 When they finally did arrive, they found the surviving crew members outside the aircraft and away from more danger.  Medical personnel immediately began to attend to their injuries, while the fire and rescue crews began to inspect the wreckage looking for  more survivors.  They found that the remaining crew members who were still onboard were all dead.  There was nothing more to do, but remove the bodies and wait for the crash investigation team.

 But as the bodies were being removed from the mass of wreckage, a sudden  "whoosh" sound was heard and a large column of black smoke began to rise up from the center section.  In an instant the entire aircraft was fully engulfed in flames.

 With so much fuel onboard, there was nothing the fire crews could do but back away.  Soon the wreckage, with the bodies of the deceased crew members still inside, was reduced to a pile of ash and molten aluminum.

 Because of the intense fire, the investigation team was not  able to determine the primary cause of this crash.  They wondered, "How could an airplane, with 2,200 gallons of gas onboard, simply run out of gas?"

 It was a question that would never be answered.  The surviving crew members who should have known, Sgt. Robbins and Lt. Pifer, had no idea.  They were sure the fuel transfer procedure was followed properly.

 However, Sgt. Robbins was critical of the B-24 fuel transfer training program.  He felt the training program was far too short at only a day and a half long.  He also felt that he could not possibly remember everything that he was taught in so short of a time span.  He was concerned about it when he boarded the aircraft, but felt that if he needed help, Sgt. Kincaid was there and could assist.

 Lt. Pifer was also critical of the pilot, Lt. Weller.  He felt that Weller acted properly after the emergency began, but felt that he could have done more to prevent the accident from happening in the first place.  Had he (Pifer) been in command of the aircraft, he would not have allowed a fuel transfer test to be conducted at such a low altitude.  His personal policy was to conduct such tests above 8,000 feet.  That way there would be more time to react in the event of an emergency.

 The investigation board was also critical of Lt. Weller.  They felt he should not have allowed the aircraft fuel tanks to be filled to capacity for such a short test.  And, with the aircraft in such a nose heavy and critical balance condition, he should not have allowed the extra crew members to get aboard at the last minute.  At the very least, he should not have allowed so many people on the flight deck at the same time.  That alone added about 400 lbs. to the already heavy nose.

 Today, the area where the B-24 came down is still sparsely inhabited, and is mainly cattle range land.  It is located approximately 7 miles south of Travis Air Force Base, and is on private property.  It is likely that the only things left to mark the spot  are a few pieces of melted aluminum and fragments of broken Plexiglas. It is doubtful that current residents are even aware of the senseless tragedy that occurred there many years ago.