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.

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.

"For wreckchasers and aviation archaeologists in the southern states, Bob Widner's Searching for Lost Warbirds in Florida is a goldmine of information. This unique book has done the research on more than 50 World War II aircraft crashes, providing the details along with aerial maps of the area then, and aerial maps showing the crash site today. Searching for Lost Warbirds in Florida puts you in the field, this weekend, visiting historic aircraft crash sites." - Nicholas A. Veronico author of Wreckchasing 101: A Guide to Finding Aircraft Crash Sites

Weather, darkness and twists of fate have contributed to more than three hundred airplane crashes in San Bernardino County, California. Many of these accidents occurred in the vast Mojave Desert, others on the cloud-shrouded, snow-capped mountains of the largest county in the lower forty-eight states. Searches often were labored yet fruitless, even for the privileged: Frank Sinatra's mother perished here in a downed plane. The quest for an aircraft containing $5,000 in cash has become the stuff of legend. Tales of survival in uninhabited, rugged landscapes have been especially harrowing. Join renowned aircraft-crash search specialist G. Pat Macha for dozens of sorrowful, triumphant, touching and surprising true stories of those who lived through the ordeals of plane crashes--and others who didn't.

A century of aviation research and military flights over Los Angeles County has left the San Gabriel Mountains, Mojave Desert and the near-shore Pacific Ocean strewn with more than 1,500 aircraft crash sites. Barnstormers and test pilots too often made unexpected final landings. Accidents occurred on a nearly daily basis during World War II training maneuvers. Private planes, a sign of 1950s prosperity, also met tragic ends. These epic incidents include the 1971 tragedy of Flight 706 in which an airliner collided with a marine fighter jet above Mount Bliss, killing fifty people. Renowned aircraft crash search specialist G. Pat Macha recounts dozens of sorrowful, triumphant and surprising true stories of those who lived through these ordeals while offering touching tributes to those who did not.

Veronico explores the romantic era of World War II warbirds and the stories of some of its most famous wrecks, including the "Swamp Ghost" (a B-17E which crashed in New Guinea in the early days of World War II and which was only recently recovered), and "Glacier Girl" (a P-38, part of "The Lost Squadron," which crashed in a large ice sheet in Greenland in 1942). Throughout, Veronico provides a history of the aircraft, as well as the unique story behind each discovery and recovery with ample illustrations.

Clear weather and a natural harbor made San Diego an early aviation hub, but success in flight came with devastating tragedies. The remains of more than four hundred aircrafts lie scattered across the county's deserts and mountains. Experts estimate that dozens more are on the ocean floor off the coast. In 1922, army pilot Charles F. Webber's DeHavilland biplane went missing over Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. In 1978, Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 178 collided midair over San Diego and crashed in the residential North Park neighborhood, claiming the lives of 144 people in what was the worst airline disaster of the era. Author and aircraft accident research specialist G. Pat Macha recounts these and other stories of astonishing survival, heroism and heartbreaking fatality.