| Event Date: 1944-04-24 |
| SORTIE DATA: | ||
| COMBAT CREDIT | STATUS | TARGET ATTACKED (MODE) |
| No |
Crashed In Allied Territory Comments: Crashed while landing from a maintenance check flight necessitated by the aircraft having been scrubbed from the day's mission. A paragraph from the 544th Squadron history (microfilm A0640-01432) describes how the aircraft was test flown by Nuttall: 'Lt. Col. Nuttall, 2nd Lt. Alfred E. Cole (CP), and 2nd Lt. Harold F. Gantert (N) were flying when their plane shed part of a wing as they were approaching the runway to land. No one was injured in the accident, but the possibilities were enormous. A siphoning wing tank and a flare back as Col. Nuttall cut the throttles which set fire to the escaping gas causing a terrific explosion were the contributing causes to the loss. The portion of the wing dropped off when the plane was still about 15 feet off the ground as the explosion occurred, the ship dropped solidly to the runway and careened off to the left onto the grass where it tipped to the side minus the wing portion and caught fire. The crew abandoned ship in a hurry and in spite of the efforts of fire fighters, the plane was almost entirely consumed.' |
Non-Combat Sortie |
| SORTIE AIRCRAFT DATA: | ||||
| TYPE | SERIAL NUMBER | SQUADRON | SQ CODE | NAME |
| B-17G | 42‑37789 ⇗ | 544th | SU*H | THE LOOSE GOOSE |
| SORTIE CREW DATA: | |||
| POSITION | CREWMEMBER | UNIT | STATUS |
| Pilot | Nuttall, Alfred Charles⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Co-pilot | Cole, Alfred Holton⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Navigator | Gantert, Harold Francis⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| Radio Operator | Anderson, Charles LeRoy⇗ | 544 | Completed, Uninjured |
| SORTIE-RELATED DOCUMENTS: | |
| TYPE | IDENTIFICATION |
| ACCIREP | Accident Report # 44-04-24-523⇗ |
| Report | |