October 2, 1941, B-18A, 37-515, crash North of Flagstaff, Arizona

Poor visibility, rain, and snow were all contributing factors to the B-18 crash in the San Francisco Peaks. The aircraft was stationed out of the Albuquerque Air Base. Six men died in the crash.

First Lt. Arnold T. King and his crew, flying B-18A, (37-515), departed Sacramento Air Depot to ferry material to Albuquerque, NM, via Bakersfield and Daggett, CA. En route, the weather encountered was not forecasted. The crew flew into snow, icing, turbulence, and strong south/southwest winds above 9,000 feet. The aircraft crashed North of Flagstaff while flying a magnetic course of approximately 300 degrees. The left wing broke off about 10 feet of the top of approximately six trees. The aircraft then hit the ground approximately 30 feet beyond the group of trees, tearing off both wings and the horizontal stabilizer. The gas tanks exploded and the ensuing fire engulfed the plane back to the radio operator’s compartment.

Landing gear and possible firewall. Photo from my personal collection.

Landing gear from a recent trip to revisit the crash site.

Might have been a battery box. I don’t think it was an ammo can.

Door Lock mechanism? It was hard to read.

Original crash site photo from my personal collection.

Portion of the wing. (P-38.com was my old website.)

Scattered debris at B-18 crash site.

Agassiz Peak