1943 Whenuapai Consolidated Liberator crash

The 1943 Whenuapai Consolidated Liberator crash was an aircraft accident that occurred in New Zealand on 2 August 1943 during World War II. The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express was owned by the USAAF and was crewed by United Air Lines.^[1][2]

1943 Whenuapai Consolidated Liberator crash

Gyro horizon from a B-24 Liberator
Accident
Date	2 August 1943 (1943-08-02)
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	New Zealand 36°46′35.06″S 174°38′43.15″E
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express
Operator	United Air Lines under contract with United States Army Air Force
Registration	41-24027
Flight origin	Whenuapai Aerodrome, Whenuapai, New Zealand
Destination	RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland, Australia
Occupants	30
Passengers	25
Crew	5
Fatalities	16
Survivors	14

History

The Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express aircraft was transferring Japanese men, women, and children of the Consular Corps, to exchange for Allied POWs.^[3] On 2 August 1943, it took off from Whenuapai Aerodrome runway 04 at 2:20 am, with rain and fog conditions at minimums for departure, and quickly passed through low stratus. Captain Herschel Laughlin's gyro horizon had inadvertently been left caged – while the instrument displayed level flight, the aircraft entered a steepening bank to the left.^[3] The crew detected the problem in a few seconds, but as the aircraft was straightening up and levelling out, it hit the ground at about 322 km/h (200 mph), bounced a few times and exploded. The third bounce threw its first officer, R. John Wisda, out through the canopy; he rolled end over end about 100 metres (330 ft) through mud and reeds.^[3] A medic later found him trying to keep warm near a burning tyre. R. John Wisda survived the crash. The major factors of the accident were the lack of a pre-flight checklist, and crew fatigue (126 flying hours in the last 26 days).

The crash killed three of the five crew (United States nationals), and eleven of the twenty-five passengers (eight Japanese and three Thai nationals).^[4] Two additional passengers died later from injuries.^[3] TSS Wahine took the surviving internees from Wellington to Sydney three months later.^[5][6][7]

TVNZ covered the crash during the programme Secret New Zealand in 2003, and posited the accident was covered up, due to concerns of reprisals against POWs.^[8]

Accident site

1943 Liberator crash site near Whenuapai Aerodrome (now RNZAF Base Auckland)

The aircraft crashed to the ground 1¼ miles NNE of Whenuapai airfield. ^[9]