Mystery Liberator crash

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

9th March, 1944 - Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

At 1100 MWT, a Cessna AT-17 (42-352), and a Cessna UC-78B (43-32456), collided in mid-air and crashed ten miles east of the Army Air Field at Fort Sumner., New Mexico, killing four fliers. Instructor 2Lt Robert R. Aschenbrenner, Berkeley, California, and student A/C Jack H. Quinly, Kansas City, Kansas, were killed in the crash of the UC-78B; student A/C Vernon Elwood McLeod, Sacramento, California, and student A/C Walter Buell Plate, San Francisco, California, were killed in the crash of the AT-17. The AT-17 was part of a three-ship flight on a student formation flight. The UC-78 was flying behind the formation so that Lt Aschenbrenner could give instructions to the student ships. The formation flight was completed without incident and the collision occurred when the formation was preparing to enter the traffic pattern for a landing at Fort Sumner Army Air Field. Both aircraft were observed falling to the ground out of control. There were no witnesses to the actual collision..

See:
Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945. Volume 2: July 1943- July 1944.
Mireles,Anthony J.
Jefferson:McFarland & Co. Inc.,2006.
p.718.

Col.