South Portland A-26 Invader crash facts for kids
A similar A-26 Invader.
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | July 11, 1944 |
| Summary | crash landing in fog |
| Place | South Portland, Maine |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 2 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 20 (All ground injuries) |
| Fatalities | 19 (17 ground fatalities) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Douglas A-26 Invader |
| Airline/user | United States Army Air Forces |
| Registration | 43-22253 |
| Flew from | Barksdale Field |
| Flying to | Portland-Westbrook Municipal Airport |
The South Portland A-26 Invader crash was a very sad event that happened in Maine during World War II. It was the worst plane crash in Maine's history. This accident took place in a neighborhood called Brick Hill in South Portland, Maine.
The Story Behind the Crash
Phillip "Phee" Russell was a talented athlete from South Portland. He played basketball, baseball, and football in high school. After graduating in 1939, he went to the University of Maine. In June 1943, he married his high school sweetheart.
That same month, Phillip became a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces. He worked as a flight instructor at Barksdale Field in Louisiana. A year later, he got special permission to fly home. This trip was part of a long training mission. He was excited to visit his wife and their three-month-old daughter in South Portland.
The Day of the Crash: July 11, 1944
On July 11, 1944, Phillip's family and friends waited for him at the Portland airport. It was a very foggy day. The airport had to close at 4:35 PM because the fog was too thick.
Just six minutes later, Phillip's family heard his voice over the airport radio. He was asking for instructions to land. They briefly saw his A-26B-5 Invader plane appear from the fog. It was flying very low, about 200 feet high. The airport told Phillip to climb higher, to 1500 feet. His plane then disappeared back into the fog.
Everyone at the airport waited for Phillip to respond on the radio. But instead, they heard loud crash noises and saw flames. The sounds and fire came from the direction where the plane had vanished.
The plane hit the ground in a terrible way. It crashed into a special housing area called a trailer park. This park was home to families of workers from the nearby shipyard. The plane broke apart as it crashed. Sixteen trailers were destroyed by fire, and twelve more were damaged by pieces of the plane.
Tragically, seventeen people living in the trailer park died. Twenty more people were hurt. Phillip Russell and his navigator, Staff Sergeant Wallace Mifflin, also died in the crash. Their bodies were found in the wreckage of the trailer park.
Remembering the Victims
Many years later, a special place was built to remember this sad event. The Long Creek Air Tragedy Memorial was put up 66 years after the crash. It honors everyone who died or was affected by the accident.
There is another similar memorial about 100 miles north, on Deer Mountain. It marks the site of Maine's second-worst plane crash. It's a strange coincidence that both crashes happened on the very same day.
The large stone used for the Long Creek memorial came from a quarry in Wells, Maine. This is the same quarry that provided the granite for the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.
