On July 20, 1968 the TBM-3E borate bomber Tanker 96 flown by 29 year old Robert Morrison was working on a hundred acre fire in the San Jacinto Mountains near the town of Idyllwild, California. While making a low pass up the smoke filled south fork of the San Jacinto River canyon to drop the load of borate, the converted Navy bomber crashed killing the pilot. The airtanker, the General Motors TBM-3E Avenger N9679C formally BuNo 69293 was owned by Hemet Valley Flying Service.

Driving though the town of Idyllwild.

I made an attempt at locating the crash site of this TBM-3E about two years ago, but at that time I didn't have enough information to find the site. This time I had a couple more clues and was able to find it.

After searching a neighboring canyon with no results, I moved over to the next one and came upon this piece of wreckage. This six foot long piece looks like it's from the fuselage

Closer look showing a small access opening and an angled piece of aluminum.

Another view of angled piece of aluminum and the sheet metal attached to it. I first though that this was part of the canopy track, but maybe it's has something to do with the borate tank.

Looking under the same piece there was some aluminum tubing with AN fittings.

Lifting it up shows the structure.

This end has signs of fire damage.

The smaller piece has dzus fasteners which indicates it might be from the area near the engine.

The other side of the same piece.

A little farther up the canyon was this piece. It's about three feet long and looks like it's from the area around the engine.

Still moving up the canyon I was finding more pieces. This part is made from steel and is about five feet long.

Close up of the same part shows the remains of some melted aluminum.

A piece from the engine mount.

A closer look shows that a piece of the firewall was attached.

Piece of skin with a stringer attached.

Pieces from the battery case.

Nearby were a couple of plates from the battery.

More small pieces.

Looks like a part from a seatbelt.

Looking up, I could see a propeller hub.

Climbing up a little farther the engine came into view.

The Wright R-2600 engine that powered the TBM-3E.

Looks like someone recently dug around the prop and from under the engine.

The prop blade had marks on it that looked like someone beat it with a hammer. It also had marks from an ax.

Propeller hub, the top blade was broken off.

Front view showing some of the cylinders and heads. The head on the right is missing.

The front case was broken exposing the propeller reduction gears.

Looking into the propeller hub. The gears are for adjusting the pitch on the blades.

I could see more wreckage by looking over the top of the engine.

This shot was taken looking straight down by standing on the sheet metal above the engine (my boot is on the left). Shows how steep the short climb up to the engine was.

Looking up the canyon from the top of the engine. This looks like the place the TBM-3 came to rest after crashing into the side of the mountain.

The largest piece of wreckae in this area is what remains of the 600 gallon borate tank.

Looks like this might be the filler for the tank.

This was under the tank, looks like a piece of skin from the wing.

More wreckage above the tank.

Just above the tank is this large piece from the fuselage.

Looks like there might be quite a bit of wreckage buried at the site.

Looking back down on the tank and the piece from the fuselage that still has some of the orange paint that the Hemet Valley Flying Service TBMs were painted.

This might be part of the tail wheel assembly, but I haven't been able to match it up with any photos of TBMs.

Another view of the assembly.

This was just above the tail wheel parts.

One of the main landing gears. A lot of this area looks like it's been recently dug up.

Took me awhile to figure out that the hinge is one of the two that were on each of the folding wings.

Same structure from the other side.

Close up of the wheel, some of it has melted away.

An overall view of the site, the engine is just beyond the borate tank.

Driving back though the town of Idyllwild on the way home. There are a few more sites in the area that I hope to locate one of these days.

THE END