Aerei perduti
Velivoli militari precipitati per cause belliche Nord Est Po Valley 1941-1945
17 ottobre 1944 - A-20 K Ser. Nr. 44-357 - Scarperia (FI)
Missing Air Crew Report: 47th Bomb (L) Rosignano A/D - Course: 15° - Target or intended destination: E. Po Valley; Type of mission: Armed Recon; 17 10 1944 Time: 0415 - Aircraft A-20K-10 Ser. Nr. 43-357; Crew position: Pilot 1st Lt. Ragsdale, Eual J. - Bombardier 2nd Lt. Scheibe, John F. - Upper Gunner S/Sgt. Schlie, James A. - Lower Gunner S/Sgt Forbis, James A.
Certificate del Lt. Colonel Marion J. Akers, Operation Officier del 47th BG datato 20 ottobre 1944 dopo l’ispezione al luogo dello schianto: “1. I certify that on 20 October 1944, Major James D. Stratton, MC, Group Bureau, 47th Bomb Gp (L), and the undersigned located A-20 K type aircraft, serial number 44-357, which failed to return from an operational flight on the night of October 16-17, 1944. The aircraft was located at Q-888982, Italy or approximately eight miles Northeast of S. Pietro, Italy. The aircraft had crashed Into the side of a mountain approximately 1,500 feet from the top. (...) 5. The weather in the area of the crash was reported by military personnel in the area as being very cloudy and dark at the time the aircraft crashed. 6. It is the opinion of the undersigned that the pilot was on instruments in the weather and was in a fairly tight diving spiral to the right when he crashed into the mountain. According to personnel in the area who heard the aircraft, both engines were running, smoothly. If all members if the crew were in the aircraft at the time it crashed, it is safe to assume they were all killed.
Forse a causa della copertura nuvolosa e della notte molto scura l’aereo si schiantò contro il fianco di una collina approssimativamente 8 miglia a Nord Est di San Piero a Sieve, senza lasciare alcun superstite. L’intero equipaggio riposa al Jefferson Barracks, negli USA.
Il luogo dell’incidente è stato recentemente ritrovato dall’Associazione “Linea Gotica Alta Val Bisenzio” , con sede a San Quirico di Vernio, che ha in programma di esporre in futuro alcuni reperti dell’aereo.
