November 16, 1951 · Eglon
Air Force B-26 crashes near Eglon
On the evening of November 16, 1951, a U.S. Air Force Douglas RB-26C Invader returning from Pittsburgh to Langley Air Force Base on a routine training flight suffered an engine failure and struck a mountaintop near Eglon, southeast of Aurora. All three Air Force Reserve officers aboard—Jerome J. Walsh, William L. Langdon, and Prentice Ross Jr.—were killed. Wreckage scattered across the Ernest Shaffer farm, and one engine narrowly missed the family’s house. Hundreds of military personnel, National Guardsmen, police officers, Civil Air Patrol crews, hunters, and local volunteers participated in a weeklong winter search centered at Aurora High School.
Research status: Verified to source
- Additional source
National Museum of the United States Air Force, “Douglas B-26C (A-26C) Invader”
Visit source ↗ (nationalmuseum.af.mil)