1945 Beinn Edra air disaster

On 3 March 1945, a USAAF Boeing B-17G crashed into the side of Beinn Edra, a mountain on the Isle of Skye, Scotland during a ferry flight to Gioia del Colle, Italy.

Flight

The aircraft (Serial No. 44-83325) was an unassigned Boeing B-17G, brand new off the assembly line in Long Beach, California, and was in the process of being ferried across to Italy. In the flight's first leg, the aircraft was flown from Bangor, Maine to Meeks Field in Iceland, near the present day Keflavík Airport. For the second leg, the aircraft was due to be flown from Meeks Field to RAF Valley on the island of Anglesey, in North West Wales, with RAF Prestwick and RAF Nutts Corner being selected as diversionary airfields should any serious problems have occurred during the flight.

The weather on the day of the flight was noted to be fairly good, but with a high pressure system across the British Isles, leading to low lying overcast cloud. The flight crossed the North Atlantic with no issues, making contact with RAF Stornoway as planned, before turning to follow the east coast of Scotland southwards. At approximately 13:45, the aircraft was witnessed by the residents of Staffin flying into the cloud base at 800 ft, trying to find its bearings on an east to west heading, before disappearing from view, followed by the sound of an explosion of the aircraft slamming into the eastern face of the 2005 ft Beinn Edra with all crew killed on impact.