 Wurtsmith relinquished command of the Thirteenth Air Force in July 1946 and returned to the United States, where he was assigned to the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Washington, DC's Bolling Field. While perhaps an unusual posting for a fighter expert, SAC was then commanded by Kenney. Wurtsmith attended the 1946 Operation Crossroads nuclear weapons tests on Bikini Atoll as an observer, and in September 1946, he was appointed commander of the Eighth Air Force, one of SAC's three numbered air forces. On 12 September 1946, he took off from MacDill Field, Florida, in a B-25 Mitchell. He first flew to Bolling Field, where he had some business, then on to Selfridge Field. He paid a visit to his family, whom he had not seen for three years, including his mother Ella, whose 77th birthday was on 14 September. On 13 September, with Wurtsmith at the controls, the Mitchell, 44-30227, set out for MacDill Field in bad weather, flying at 6,000 feet (1,800 m) — below the safe altitude for the area. At around 11: 20 all on board were killed when the aircraft crashed into Cold Mountain, about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Asheville, North Carolina. The official report listed the cause of the crash as "miscalculation of altitude".
