CRASH OF A B-26 MARAUDER
AT IRON RANGE, QLD
ON 30 SEPTEMBER 1942

On 30 September 1942, B-26 Marauder #40-1403, "Kansas Comet II" ran off the taxi strip into a ditch at Iron Range airfield in northern Queensland due to "personal [sic] failure" (I guess this means "human error"). This aircraft may have also been known as "Bunagoon".  The B-26 actually suffered a brake failure and ran off the end of the runway following landing. It climbed an embankment and the nose gear collapsed. The nose was badly damaged.

The rear fuselage and tail of this B-26 were salvaged and grafted onto #40-1532. The resulting hybrid B-26 was also called #40-1532, "Sourpuss". Thus, the ID numbers from the rear of #40-1403 were changed.

There were two B-26's called "Kansas Comet", one being "Kansas Comet", #40-1433 and the other "Kansas Comet II", #40-1403.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Tom Hall for his assistance with this web page.

Can anyone help me with more information on this crash?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 5 January 2007

This page last updated 20 February 2022