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Freckleton air disaster

1940s in Lancashire1944 disasters in the United Kingdom1944 in EnglandAccidents and incidents involving military aircraftAugust 1944 events
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1944Aviation accidents and incidents in EnglandBorough of FyldeDisasters in LancashireDisasters in schoolsEngvarB from June 2021History of LancashireTransport in LancashireUnited States Air ForceWorld War II memorials

On 23 August 1944, a United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Consolidated B-24 Liberator crashed during a test flight into the centre of the village of Freckleton, Lancashire, England, killing all three crewmen aboard the aircraft and 58 individuals on the ground, including 38 children aged four to six.An official inquiry was unable to pinpoint an exact cause for the accident, although a sudden thunderstorm and the resultant reduced visibility immediately prior to the accident had caused the test pilot of the B-24, First Lieutenant John Bloemendal, to be ordered to abandon the test fight and attempt to return to base. The report was unable to discount structural failure of the aircraft in such extreme weather conditions as a factor for the accident, and recommended that American pilots be warned how to respond to British thunderstorms.This aviation accident would prove to be the deadliest to occur in Britain during World War II, and would remain the second worst aviation accident in the world (in terms of number of fatalities) until the 1950 Llandlow air disaster.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Freckleton air disaster (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Freckleton air disaster
Kirkham Road, Borough of Fylde Freckleton

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N 53.75472 ° E -2.86585 °
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Freckleton War Memorial

Kirkham Road
PR4 1HP Borough of Fylde, Freckleton
England, United Kingdom
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