During World War II, the air over the continental United States was a virtual third front. The little-known statistics are alarming: the Army Air Forces lost more than 4,500 aircraft in combat against Japanese army and naval air forces in the war. During the same time, the AAF lost more than 7,100 aircraft in the United States to accidents in training and transportation. Such accidents claimed the lives of more than 15,530 pilots, crewmembers and ground personnel, and the stories of their deaths are largely forgotten. This work chronicles the 6,350 known fatal AAF aircraft accidents that occurred in the continental United States from January 1941 through December 1945. Each crash summary, based on official records, provides details such as crash location and cause, the people involved and the type and number of aircraft. An aircraft serial number index, a record of AAF aircraft still listed as missing, crash statistics and a directory of AAF stations in the United States are included.

Anthony J. Mireles lives in Calumet City, Illinois.

Anthony J. Mireles

Format: softcover (7 x 10 in 3 vols.)
Pages: 1336
Bibliographic Info: appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2006
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2106-0
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0492-3
Imprint: McFarland

Volume 1
Acknowledgments      vii
Introduction      ix
Abbreviations      xiii
A Note about Dates, Times, and Entry Numbers      xiv

Volume 1
1941 ( January–December)      1
1942 ( January–December)      40
1943 ( January–June)      227

Volume 2
1943 ( July–December)      423
1944 ( January–July)      633

Volume 3
1944 (August–December)      875
1945 ( January–December) 1012

Appendices
Appendix I: Statistics Year by Year      1185
Appendix II: Army Air Forces Stations in the United States, 1941–1945      1187
Appendix III: Missing Aircraft      1192

Notes      1193
Bibliography      1194
Aircraft Index (by Primary Designer/Manufacturer)      1195
Location Index (by State)      1220
Name Index      1235

• “Exhaustively researched…highly recommended”—ARBA
• “Well organized”—America in WWII
• “Monumental amount of information…superlative reference work”—Aviation News
• “Gripping…this publisher must be applauded for putting its resources behind such a deserving project”—SpeedReaders