Midair Collision

On December 8, 1944, two airplanes from the Sioux Falls Army Air Force Radio Training School collided above this site, killing ten airmen. The planes were twin-engined AT-18 medium bombers reconfigured as flying classrooms, with interiors stripped and replaced by tables and radio equipment so students could receive actual flight training before graduation. A combination of overcast skies and silver-gray airplanes was believed to have led to the tragedy. Known as hot ships, the AT-18s cruised at 190 mph. Witnesses saw one plane rocket out of a cloud bank at high speed and clip the tail assembly of a second plane. One plane crashed in a student housing area, and all seven airmen aboard it, along with three students in a barracks, died in the resulting inferno. In the other plane, pilot Willard Woody of North Carolina flew north to avoid further tragedy, maintained altitude while the six airmen on board bailed out, and then parachuted to safety before his disabled plane crashed east of Renner.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota · United States