Nebraska WWII Fatal Crash Site #
22
Dakota City
This plane, C-39 (38-507) was on a navigation flight from Rosecrans Field at St. Joseph, Missouri to the Sioux City Army Air Field. The plane landed safely at Sioux City. Then around 12:30 a.m. the plane took off from the air field and apparently suffered engine failure on the No. 2 engine which was reported to also be on fire. The plane was attempted to return to the AAF and was headed in a northeasterly direction. It just cleared the tops of a grove of cottonwood trees, traveled a little further, and then exploded upon striking the ground.
January 31, 1944
This site was investigated on March 21, 2008. After a prolonged search and interviews with local residents, combined with reading newspaper articles, the site was located without a doubt. The debris field contained small pieces of the plane and were strewn along an area in a southwest to northeast direction.
The plane was said to have barely missed the top of the cottonwood trees in the distance before traveling a little further and striking the ground.
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