San Bernardino B-25H #43-4648 10/11/19
Read MoreAt 6:30pm on 5/31/45 the North American B-25H Mitchell bomber #43-4648 crashed in the San Bernardino Mountains, California. Killed in the accident was the crew of three, pilot 2Lt. August P. Parks, co-pilot F/O Charles F. Cizek and engineer Sgt. Orville V. Barton.
The flight had taken off from March Field, Riverside, California on an instrument training flight to Victorville Army Air Field, Victorville, California, and a low level bombing mission on the Victorville Bombing Range. The bomber landed at Victorville Army Air Field and the crew was briefed on bombing range use and procedures. The bomber took off at 5:20pm cleared to operate on the bombing range and an instrument flight to March Field. The bomber failed to arrive at the bombing range and failed to return to March Field. The bomber was found to have crashed in a box canyon that it could not out climb or turn around in exploding into flames upon impact.Tom and Mike at the start of the hike.
Our visit to this crash site was made possible by Pat J. Macha who was able to solve the mystery of it's location. I've known about this B-25H for about ten years, but couldn't collect enough information on it's location to make the effort to locate it. The Army Air Force report was vague and it could have been in one of several mountain canyons.