A lot of you B-25 fans probably know more about its flying characteristics than I do. However, in talking to several VMB 611 pilots at their 2005 reunion, their greatest fear was losing an engine on a low-level flight. This fear was proven, as most of their casualties were after losing an engine on a low-level combat strike. The below story relates to a PBJ loss while attempting to land on a coral runway with only one engine. Marine Bombing Squadron VMB 611 PBJ-1D MB 13 overshoots a runway at Turtle Bay, Espiritu Santo on October 26, 1944. During VMB 611’s Flight Echelon island-hopping journey from MCAS Ewa, Hawaii to join MAG 61 on Emirau Island, they had a three-day layover at Luganville, Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides. On October 26, the squadron of planes left Espiritu Santo for Munda Airfield, New Georgia. They were not out more than 45 minutes when PBJ-1D MB 13, flown by 1st Lt Robert P. Clarke, blew a stack on one of its engines, forcing him back to Espiritu Santo. When Lt Clarke arrived over the bomber airbase at Luganville on one engine, he was refused permission to land. Instead, he was directed by the Luganville control tower to cross the island to the fighter strip at Turtle Bay, which was temporary vacant. This was a poor decision by the Luganville control tower personnel to force a PBJ on one engine to land on a short 3,000-foot runway with a 20-foot drop-off at the end. Approaching Turtle Bay from the ocean, Lt Clarke started his descent, passing from the cool air over water to the hot air over the coral runway. The hot air suddenly made the plane balloon upward, destroying any chance of touching down soon enough. It was a desperate moment, for the pilot not only had to apply full throttle on the one engine to regain altitude for a second approach, he also had to go into a sharp turn to avoid a hill on the other side of the drop-off. The PBJ almost stalled. Coming around again, Lt Clarke this time reduced the altitude of his approach and forced the plane down, about one-third of the way down the runway. That did not leave enough room for the PBJ and Lt Clarke knew it. He hit the emergency brake. The wheels locked. Both tires blew. The plane went off the end of the runway, hit land on the other side, tore off both engines, and stopped in the middle of a river with water flowing into both waist gunports. All the crewmembers were able to exit the aircraft safely, with the only causality being 1st Lt Richard S Bond suffering a broken jaw. Some time later, all completed their trip to Emirau via a R4D transport plane.
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 23:51:17 +0000
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