Mystery Friday Foto #46 Solved: A 1940 midair crash of two B-18 bombers over Bellerose, Queens
Joel Friedman of the Cradle of Aviation Museum challenged you to identify this weekend's mystery aerial.
Photo taken by John Drennan and in the collection of the Cradle of Aviation Museum
Identify;
- The tragedy on the streets of Queens, what happened?
Two twin-engine Douglas B-18A Bolo bombers, 37-576, piloted by 1st Lt. P. Burlingame, and 37-583, flown by 2d Lt. R. M. Bylander, of the 9th Bomb Group, were flying out of Mitchel Field, New York, on a training exercise. While maneuvering at 2,500 feet, one plane passed too close under the other and the two collided. Fuel, metal, glass and other debris rained down onto newly built homes in Bellerose, New York, killing all 11 crew on board. One woman, inside a home set afire, succumbed to burn injuries the next day.
- Location and orientation of the photographer
Looking North over Bellerose, Queens.
- Date
9:00 A.M. Monday, June 17, 1940
- The large cluster of buildings in the upper left corner
Creedmoor Hospital. Seen by the Creedmoor facility is a railroad siding that supplied coal to the power plant.
- Find the Motor Parkway, any Motor Parkway structures, and identify as many streets as possible
The Motor Parkway can be seen way off in the background with the Commonweath Bridge being the only visible structure.
Comments (11)
Congrats to Al Prete, Alan Wunner, Eric M, Steve Lucas, Art Kleiner, George Philippides, Len Williams, Brian McCarthy and Frank Femenias for identifying the crash and/or location. Kudos to Art, Frank, and Brian, for their documentation.
Greg O.
Photo taken by John Drennan and in the collection of the Cradle of Aviation Museum
Then and now side-by-side.
Close-ups
Creedmoor with Creedmoor RR siding in the center just below the smokestacks.
Double opening overpass is the new Union Tpke bridge going over the Cross Island Pkwy. The LIMP Commonweath Bridge just above it.
The Union Tpke overpass today.
Wreckage on 89th St.
Wreckage on 239th St.
Ground view images
House located on 89th St.
From the Arcadia Images of America, 'Long Island Aircraft Crashes 1909-1959' book is ground level of the charred houses on 239th.
Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia views the crash damage.
A B-18 Bomber like those of the accident as seen in 1939 flying over the World's Fair Grounds.
The eleven forgotten aviators who perished in the crash were;
B-18A Plane 9B-45: Burlingame serial # 37-583
1st Lieut. Paul Burlingame, Jr. of Louisville, Kentucky:
2nd Lieut. James Frederick Dow of Houlton, Maine:
2nd Lieut. Hugh Palmer Bedient of Falconer, New York:
Staff Sgt. Martin J. Costello of New Bedford, Massachusetts:
Corp. Thaddius Ted P. Kraszewski of Southampton, New York:
Private Clinton O. Rhodes of Clinton, New Jersey:
B-18A Plane 9B-43: Bylander Serial # 37-576
2nd Lieut. Richard M. Bylander of Little Rock, Arkansas:
2nd Lieut. Paul Moffett Lambert of Lakewood, New York; (Newton Highlands, Mass)
2nd Lieut. James Herbert Hail of Lawrence, Kansas:
Staff Sgt. Claude A. Shelbaer of Hempstead, New York:
Corp. Frank X. Deeley of Daytona Beach, Florida:
The lone civilian casualty on the ground was Mrs. Emily Kraft
Bellerose, Queens who died a day later of burns received after her house was set ablaze.
Soon after the incident, a memorial plaque was placed at the corner of 239th St. and Hillside.
January of 2018, American Legion Post 103 spearheaded by Jim Buccellato, began working on a project to erect a more suitable memorial to the 11 airmen and 1 civilian killed in the accident which will include their names along with an appropriate inscription.
Their effort was somewhat hampered by the pandemic, but they have raised $17,000 to date for the estimated cost of the memorial (fabrication and installation) of $42,000. The new monument will include the original small plaque placed at the location in the 1940s by the local community.
Artist rendering of the proposed replacement memorial.
A sign of the differing times can be seen here. Considered unacceptable by today's standards 84 years later, asbestos companies back then seized upon the tragedy to advertise their products, stating that your home would have been protected by the combustible aviation fuel had your house been covered with asbestos shingles.
Wow....
Comments
The place: Bellerose Manor, Queens (239th Street - 241st Street). The photographer is looking northwest.
The date: June 17, 1940.
The tragic event: Two B-18 bombers from Mitchel Field collided during a training exercise, raining debris and fuel over the neighborhood of newly-built homes. All 11 men aboard the planes were killed, and a woman on the ground suffered burns from fuel that ignited her home and died the next day.
The large cluster of buildings is a hospital (possibly Creedmoor). Today it’s a nursing home.
The Motor Parkway is barely visible towards the top of the Foto. I see the bridge over the Cross Island Parkway, which would open a few days later. The road in the middle of the Foto, which separates the neighborhood from the hospital, is Hillside Avenue.
An army bomber crashed onto a street just south of Hillside Avenue and across the street from Creedmoor State Hospital in 1944 or 1945. There is a marker with a plaque to commemorate the event and the loss of life of the crew on the median of the street (238th Street ?,not sure…). Visible in the photos are the Grand Central Parkway,Hillside Avenue,the Cross Island Parkway,and the old Central Railroad of LI/Stewart Branch remnant used to supply Creedmoor Hospital with coal.
I also can see off in the distance the Motor Parkway (now out of service) bridge over Commonwealth Boulevard.
Wow this is actually my grandfather’s old block!
The tragedy on the streets of Queens, what happened?
Two US Army bombers collided from a failed maneuver causing the tragic incident that killed 11 airmen and 1 civilian in a nearby house.
Location and orientation of the photographer
Looking north in the Bellerose section of Queens. Incident seems to have occurred on 87th Avenue between 239th street and 241st street. Hillside avenue is close by in the photo as well as buildings that are part of Creedmor hospital. There is a railroad track below that was the old Creedmor line (connecting to Floral Park and even earlier it connected to Flushing by which the Bell blvd bridge was used for LIMP).
Very far north and west is Little Neck Bay.
Date
June 17, 1940
The large cluster of buildings in the upper left corner
Creedmor hospital.
Find the Motor Parkway, any Motor Parkway structures, and identify as many streets as possible
LIMP and GCP appears to be shown in the area of Commonwealth Blvd north and east in the photo.
The photographer is looking northeast over Bellerose Manor in Queens on June 17, 1940 and shows the tragic aftermath of a mid-air collision of two Army Air Corps B-18 bombers on a training mission out of Mitchel Field. Twelve people died in the crash including all 11 on the two planes and one civilian (Emily Craft) on the ground. It was near 239 St. and Hillside Ave. I believe the large building complex is the Creedmoor Psychiatric Hospital. The LIMP can be seen above the double arch Union Tpke. bridge along with the remnants of the recently demolished LIMP bridge over Commonwealth Blvd. The tree lined road going left to right in the center could be Rocky Hill Road or today’s Braddock Ave.
Two twin-engine Douglas B-18 bombers were on a training mission from Mitchel Field and collided mid-air, killing all on board and a civilian on the ground.
Looks like the photographer was in the air overlooking the site of the crash, Bellerose Manor, looking north/northeast.
The crash occurred on June 17, 1940.
Creedmoor State Hospital
Grand Central Parkway, Grand Central Parkway, 87th Avenue, Hillside Avenue
Bellerose Manor that rained destruction down on the homeowners of 239th Street off Hillside Avenue.
On June 17, 1940 two twin-engine Douglas B-18 bombers were sent out from Nassau County’s Mitchel Field for a training exercise at 2,500 feet, in which one plane would pass under the other one. The planes crashed in mid air and fell
in the Bellerose Manor section of Queens on 239th street and 86th street. All 11 men on board — including two who tried to parachute to safety — died.
Location is Bellerose Manor Queens, looking north east
Building cluster is Creedmoor Psychiatric Center
Hillside Avenue moves left to right in middle of picture
Motor Parkway runs left to right on top middle of picture, behind Creedmoor
Commonwealth Blvd in upper right
Possibly Union Turnpike, parallel to LIMP in middle.
that plane crash is on 239 street and 87 ave in Queens just south of the Creedmore mental institution. the camera is looking norteast. the upper right corner of the photo shows the creedmore power plant and the union turnpike bridge for the cross island parkway. parallel to the bridge just north is the long island motor parkway.
On June 17 1940, 2 Military Planes flew out of Mitchel Field. The planes collided each other. and crashed down into this neighborhood in Bellerose, Queens NY. This is viewing broadly North. To the left is the Creedmoor Hospital Grounds. I marked the aerial below, looks a little crowded with names etc. About 2 weeks later, the Cross Island Parkway opened 6/29/1940. The 2 lane tunnels are seen at the Union Tpke Bridge.
Great mystery foto, thank you for sharing. Guessing those arch bridges are carrying Union Tpke over Cross Island Parkway looking NNE, with old Motor Parkway’s Commonwealth Blvd bridge in the distance just behind. Likely this aviation accident happened in now Bellerose Manor before 1942, during WWII. The cluster of buildings may be associated with Creedmoor Psychiatric hospital, former NRA gun range.
Great mystery foto, thank you for sharing. Guessing those arch bridges are carrying Union Tpke over Cross Island Parkway looking NNE, with old Motor Parkway’s Commonwealth Blvd bridge in the distance just behind. Likely this aviation accident happened in now Bellerose Manor before 1942, during WWII. The cluster of buildings may be associated with Creedmoor Psychiatric hospital, former NRA gun range. I was unable to post photos on this mystery, trying again
The area in the photo marked Creedmoor Hospital was actually a wooded area
Queens Villagers called “The Rockies”. A wonderful playground. There was an area filled with large slabs of cement . Maybe someone knows where they came from. If they were part of Creedmoor at one time?