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Old 22nd October 2005, 14:23
Laurent Rizzotti Laurent Rizzotti is offline
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Date is 23 September 1944

"Another accident at Millville is much different from the others. On September 23rd, 2LT Andrew J. Easterwood was killed in a crash in the Atlantic Ocean. Easterwood was the number three man of a flight of five aircraft on an aerial gunnery mission. On his fifth or sixth pass at the target, his aircraft apparently hit the target cable and began a slow roll to the right. The ship continued forward, rolled on its back and started a spiral to the right. The aircraft crashed into the ocean and was never recovered. Easterwood's aircraft crashed as the result of hitting the ¼ inch cable and not the stabilizing bar.

2LT Asa W. Shuler, one of Easterwood's closest friends, thought otherwise. Shuler had been in pilot training with Easterwood and reported to Millville at the same time. When attending his memorial service in Alabama, Shuler mentioned to a family member that he thought that Easterwood had been shot down. This would have been impossible based on the information in the accident report. All of the airplanes in the flight had fired all of their ammunition, but that same report fails to address possible defects in the airplane and health issues. We can only speculate about the cause of this unusual accident, as Shuler was killed in action in France."

http://p47millville.org/history_accidents.html
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