Time Machine: Canadian bomber crashed in Cedar Rapids in 1954

Plane was in city to have Collins Radio equipment installed

A four-engine Canadian Air Force Lancaster bomber crashed on the northwest runway of the Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport on July 12, 1954. The plane was in Cedar Rapids to have new Collins Radio equipment installed. All the crew members survived. (Gazette archives)

It caused some excitement when a four-engine Lancaster bomber from the Comox air force base near Vancouver, British Columbia, landed at the Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport on July 7, 1954.

It was the first foreign plane with military insignia ever to land in Cedar Rapids. And it would become the first to crash here.

The Royal Canadian Air Force FM228 plane was brought to Cedar Rapids for installation of Collins Radio Co. equipment. Two UHF transceivers and an antenna would turn the plane into an airborne transmitting station for testing communications coverage in Canada.

The Lancaster played a huge role in British air defense during World War II. It was built by Manchester’s A.V. Roe Co. and powered by Rolls-Royce engines. The huge plane “was designed for one job, to carry a big bomb load,” according to The Gazette’s Aviation Editor Lou Breuer. “On that score, it was a big success.”

Four hundred thirty Lancasters were built at Malton, Ontario, Canada, in 1945. The plane that arrived in Cedar Rapids was one of 130 planes in the FM series built between April and August 1945.

With the war over, the “Lanc” was decommissioned in England, the last one being scrapped in March or April 1954, but Canada kept three squadrons of the planes, minus their top gun turrets, to use for coastal patrol and for navigator training.

One of the famed Lancasters, the World War II four-engine bomber that was the backbone of the British air force, arrived at the Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport July 7, 1954, for installation of Collins Radio Co. equipment. This Lancaster came from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and belonged to one of three squadrons of used for coastal patrol and to train navigators. (Gazette archives) — One of the famed Lancasters, the World War II four-engine bomber that was the backbone of the British air force, arrived at the Cedar Rapids Municipal Airport on July 7, 1954, for installation of Collins Radio Co. equipment. This Lancaster came from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and belonged to one of three squadrons of used for coastal patrol and to train navigators. (Gazette archives)

The crash

On the hot afternoon of July 12, Capt. John Brindle, the pilot, and his crew took up the plane to test the new Collins equipment.

When they were done, Brindle, 32, began his approach to land around 3:20 p.m. He didn’t notice the large embankment at the end of the runway and undershot the runway by about 6 feet

An attendant at the airport, Duane Van Horn, watched it happen. He said the plane’s landing gear hit the embankment just short of the field, bounced 30 feet, burst into flames, and then skidded 300 yards down the runway.

The flight crew escaped, and city fire crews were called to put out the fire. The plane’s left wing and both left engines were heavily damaged. One propeller was thrown 100 yards.

Brindle suffered a cut on the top of his head and a back injury. Flight Officer and co-pilot Ray Sowerbry had cuts on the back of his head and his right leg. Flight Officer John McDonald and Sgt. Hugh Hofstrand both sustained lesser injuries.

Brindle said planes require a higher speed when landing in hot weather. Accustomed to the cooler air in Canada, he thought he should have compensated for the 95-degree heat.

Aeronautics Inspector Harold Hartley witnessed the crash from the third floor of the terminal. He said the big bird seemed to hang in the air before bouncing and hitting the runway.

Hartley immediately reported the crash to the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the predecessor to the Federal Aviation Administration, for investigation.

Hartley also reported the plane had made three low passes before attempting to land. Brindle said the low-altitude runs were made to test the new equipment.

A crew from Canada arrived in Cedar Rapids to repair the plane enough it could be flown back to Comox. There, the damage was considered severe enough to scrap the plane.

Tow trucks arrive to clear the wreckage of a Canadian Lancaster bomber the crashed at the Cedar Rapids airport the evening of July 12, 1954. The plane, in Cedar Rapids for installation of Collins Radio equipment, crashed while trying to land at the airport after testing the new equipment. The plane was repaired enough to fly back to Canada, where it was then scrapped. (Gazette archives) — Tow trucks arrive to clear the wreckage of a Canadian Lancaster bomber that crashed at the Cedar Rapids airport the evening of July 12, 1954. The plane, in Cedar Rapids for installation of Collins Radio equipment, crashed while trying to land at the airport after testing the new equipment. The plane was repaired enough to fly back to Canada, where it was scrapped. (Gazette archives)

City thanked

At the December meeting of the City Council, a letter from Commanding Officer W. McLeod of the Canadian Air Force’s 407th squadron at Comox thanked city officials and residents for helping the Lancaster crew members after the crash.

In December 1954, Canada’s Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal C. Roy Slemon, announced new air force planes were being manufactured to gradually replace the Lancasters.

By 2016, only 17 Lancasters still existed.

Glenn Miller

On a side note, Lancaster bombers may have had a role in the disappearance of big band leader Glenn Miller in 1944. Miller, a native of Clarinda, disappeared on Dec. 15, 1944, in fog over the English Channel.

In 1986, two Royal Air Force veterans said they thought they knew what might have happened to Miller and his single-engine Norseman D-64.

A fleet of 138 Lancasters returning to England jettisoned their bombs over the Channel at about the same time and saw a light plane in the area. A Lancaster pilot, Victor Gregory, told the Associated Press, “No other Norsemen were reported missing that day.”

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