The Sharp Top Mountain B-25
May 26, 2013 7:04 PM Subscribe
On Feb 2, 1943 a B-25 with 5 crew members crashed into the side of Sharp Top Mountain, near Bedford VA during a training flight. There were no survivors.
70 years later much of the wreckage is still there.
Sharp Top Mountain is the most popular trail at the Peaks of Otter on the Blue Ridge Parkway. In season, a few hundred people are passing with 1000 feet of this site every day, and almost all of them have no idea that it is there.
This seems to be the most comprehensive source of information about the crash.
70 years later much of the wreckage is still there.
Sharp Top Mountain is the most popular trail at the Peaks of Otter on the Blue Ridge Parkway. In season, a few hundred people are passing with 1000 feet of this site every day, and almost all of them have no idea that it is there.
This seems to be the most comprehensive source of information about the crash.
Vaguely reminiscent of this well preserved 1949 C-47 wreck near Isachsen, Nunavut, although that was a crash on takeoff and apparently there were no serious injuries. It remains in excellent condition except for the slow accumulation of bullet-holes, probably by virtue of being the only notable target for hundreds of kilometers in an environment where everyone carries a rifle as a matter of course.
posted by figurant at 7:26 PM on May 26, 2013
posted by figurant at 7:26 PM on May 26, 2013
There's a similar crash site of a B-25 on San Gorgonio, the tallest mountain in Southern California. I'm planning a hiking trip up there next month.
Unlike the Sharp Top Mountain site, the San Gorgonio one is well-known and a memorial has been built there.
posted by drjimmy11 at 7:47 PM on May 26, 2013
Unlike the Sharp Top Mountain site, the San Gorgonio one is well-known and a memorial has been built there.
posted by drjimmy11 at 7:47 PM on May 26, 2013
No preservation here, but a B-24 went down in Western NY in 1944:
info here
My Uncle, born right around where that accident happened died in July 1945 (friday the 13th) in a heavy bomber on a run over Kawasaki based out of Guam. Just a little over a month before VJ day.
.
posted by nutate at 9:22 PM on May 26, 2013
info here
My Uncle, born right around where that accident happened died in July 1945 (friday the 13th) in a heavy bomber on a run over Kawasaki based out of Guam. Just a little over a month before VJ day.
.
posted by nutate at 9:22 PM on May 26, 2013
If you want another hike in the area, COD, there's a similar crash site of a DC-3 in the woods on Buck's Elbow Mountain about 65 miles away, in Albemarle County. The same "unwritten rule" about not making the site too easy to find seems to apply online, but people do get the coordinates somewhere or other.
In the case of this crash, there's a harrowing first-person history from the sole survivor, who was thrown onto the mountainside still strapped to his seat. He was unable to walk and had to wait a torturous day and a half before rescuers would find him.
posted by Orinda at 9:51 PM on May 26, 2013 [4 favorites]
In the case of this crash, there's a harrowing first-person history from the sole survivor, who was thrown onto the mountainside still strapped to his seat. He was unable to walk and had to wait a torturous day and a half before rescuers would find him.
posted by Orinda at 9:51 PM on May 26, 2013 [4 favorites]
On the side of a mountain in the Maine woods near Greenville remains much of a B-52, which crashed 50 years ago this year in a January blizzard. Video 1: touring the site today. Video 2: still photos of the site.
I went up there a few years ago. A long drive in, but a short hike.
posted by LeLiLo at 10:05 PM on May 26, 2013
I went up there a few years ago. A long drive in, but a short hike.
posted by LeLiLo at 10:05 PM on May 26, 2013
There are several crash sites in southern Colorado, including this one on Blodgett Peak - a C-49J twin-engined transport, which crashed while en route from Pueblo to Denver on 23 Feb 1943 instantly killing the pilot and two crewmen. I am not positive, but semi-sure the site is currently off-limits because of last summer's Waldo Canyon wildfire.
An article about that crash and others in the region from our local paper.
And last but not least, a Summit Post listing of air craft wreckage (with photos) on hikeable peaks around the world.
posted by faineant at 10:22 PM on May 26, 2013
An article about that crash and others in the region from our local paper.
And last but not least, a Summit Post listing of air craft wreckage (with photos) on hikeable peaks around the world.
posted by faineant at 10:22 PM on May 26, 2013
One of the mountain bike trails I ride in Marin County is called B-17, for the bomber that crashed there during WW II. I'm told one of the engines is still on the hillside
posted by Repack Rider at 10:45 PM on May 26, 2013
posted by Repack Rider at 10:45 PM on May 26, 2013
The X-Hunters is great site run by an aviation archeologist who mostly tracks down the wreck sites of unusual and experimental aircraft. They were part of a recent CLUI exhibition.
The Wreckchasing message board has even more talk should you wish to go down the rabbit hole.
posted by quartzcity at 12:08 AM on May 27, 2013
The Wreckchasing message board has even more talk should you wish to go down the rabbit hole.
posted by quartzcity at 12:08 AM on May 27, 2013
I went on the CLUI/X-Hunters tour of experimental aircraft crash sites in the Mojave desert. It was interesting to learn the stories of the crashes, pilots and planes, and actually stand in the locations of these significant events in aviation history, but the sites themselves are relatively devoid of debris or other evidence of crashes--though I did find a piece of melted aluminum from a flying wing that crashed in 1948, and a few of the sites had memorials.
Some photos from the trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallofhair/sets/72157632920347516/
posted by jjwiseman at 2:16 AM on May 27, 2013
Some photos from the trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallofhair/sets/72157632920347516/
posted by jjwiseman at 2:16 AM on May 27, 2013
Both of my family members who died in WWII (in uniform) were killed in accidents. One naturally thinks of the lives lost in combat as emblematic of the tragedy of war, but there are also always plenty of guys run over by trucks or what have you. Actually, until recently, I think disease killed more soldiers than combat did.
posted by thelonius at 8:13 AM on May 27, 2013
posted by thelonius at 8:13 AM on May 27, 2013
There's a Canso in the rainforest near Tofino. Not easy to get to though.
posted by klanawa at 8:40 AM on May 27, 2013
posted by klanawa at 8:40 AM on May 27, 2013
Thanks, Orinda, for mentioning the Buck's Elbow hike. My grandfather died in that crash. He left behind 4 daughters, of whom my mother was the youngest. She has no memory of the crash or her father, as she was only 2 years old.
My grandmother has never really spoken about the crash beyond acknowledging that it occurred, and my aunts were too young to appreciate (to varying degrees) much beyond their own loss. So it is strange to learn about a significant event in one's family history not from family, but through newspaper clippings, government reports and the recollections of the sole survivor. And it's furthermore strange how reported terms like "human carnage" describe a person who, in an alternate reality, you would have known as grandpa.
My sister hiked Buck's Elbow a few years ago but couldn't locate the wreckage. Afterward, my grandmother swore she would visit the site, but apparently the hike is somewhat difficult and the remains aren't that easy to find (though I'm not about to tell a 90-year-old what she can and cannot do). Maybe I can find a way to get her there. I wonder would it would be like for each of us.
posted by oh hey at 10:25 AM on May 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
My grandmother has never really spoken about the crash beyond acknowledging that it occurred, and my aunts were too young to appreciate (to varying degrees) much beyond their own loss. So it is strange to learn about a significant event in one's family history not from family, but through newspaper clippings, government reports and the recollections of the sole survivor. And it's furthermore strange how reported terms like "human carnage" describe a person who, in an alternate reality, you would have known as grandpa.
My sister hiked Buck's Elbow a few years ago but couldn't locate the wreckage. Afterward, my grandmother swore she would visit the site, but apparently the hike is somewhat difficult and the remains aren't that easy to find (though I'm not about to tell a 90-year-old what she can and cannot do). Maybe I can find a way to get her there. I wonder would it would be like for each of us.
posted by oh hey at 10:25 AM on May 27, 2013 [3 favorites]
oh hey: Thanks for sharing your family's story. I haven't done the hike myself, but I've heard from other people that it is pretty steep. And the terrain view on Google Maps looks intimidating for a less-than-spry hiker, especially considering that the public park trails do not go all the way to the site. (The crash site is somewhere on the southeastern face of the mountain, NOT at the point where the pin appears on that map.) Your grandmother could certainly visit the memorial down in the Mint Springs park, though, if she hasn't done so already.
posted by Orinda at 11:09 AM on May 27, 2013
posted by Orinda at 11:09 AM on May 27, 2013
Something about hiking to a wreck site.
I went to Philmont Scout Reservation outside of Cimmaron, NM as a 13 year old in July of '86. A B-24 had crashed into Trail Peak in 1942, and we did a day hike up to the 10,242 ft peak to have lunch and view the wreckage. Could see for miles and miles that day, could only imagine what was going through the heads of the crew during the nighttime storm that brought the aircraft down.
posted by rhythim at 10:34 AM on May 28, 2013
I went to Philmont Scout Reservation outside of Cimmaron, NM as a 13 year old in July of '86. A B-24 had crashed into Trail Peak in 1942, and we did a day hike up to the 10,242 ft peak to have lunch and view the wreckage. Could see for miles and miles that day, could only imagine what was going through the heads of the crew during the nighttime storm that brought the aircraft down.
posted by rhythim at 10:34 AM on May 28, 2013
Orinda - Thank you for the suggestions/tips. She has indeed visited the Mint Springs memorial. As for the terrain, yikes. But what a perfect opportunity to put her in one of these exoskeletons.
posted by oh hey at 9:56 PM on May 28, 2013
posted by oh hey at 9:56 PM on May 28, 2013
« Older Bridge Over Troubled Waters No More | A cuckoo clock that only keeps borrowed time Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by COD at 7:07 PM on May 26, 2013