page_title: Accidents and incidents involving the North American P-51 Mustang
section_title: 1940s
hierarchical_section_title: Accidents and incidents involving the North American P-51 Mustang / 1940s
context_page_description: This is a partial list of accidents and incidents involving the North American P-51 Mustang and its variants. Combat losses are not included except for a very few cases denoted by singular circumstances.
  The P-51 Mustang was first flown in 1940, and it went on to become one of the most iconic USAAF fighter aircraft of World War II. The type was rendered obsolete as a fighter with the beginning of the Jet Age, but it continued to serve in the Korean War in the ground attack role. Many P-51s were sold as surplus, becoming a popular mount for air racers.
context_section_description: 20 November 1940
  The North American NA-73X (Mustang prototype), NX19998, crashed on its fifth flight after test pilot Paul Balfour to go through the takeoff and flight test procedure with designer Edgar Schmued prior to a high-speed test run, claiming "one airplane was like another."  The NA-73X ran out of fuel on its third pass over Mines Field, Los Angeles, California, after Balfour forgot to put the fuel valve on "reserve".  Balfour made an emergency landing in a freshly plowed field, but the landing gear dug in and the aircraft flipped over.  The aircraft was not rebuilt, and a second NA-73X was used for subsequent testing.
  13 April 1944
  North American P-51B-7-NA "Shangri La", 43-6913, crashed after its pilot, famed ace Dominic Salvatore "Don" Gentile, buzzed the 4th Fighter Group's Debden airfield for a group of press reporters and movie cameras.  Gentile misjudged his height, and as a result crashed into the rising ground.
  20 July 1944
  Two North American P-51C-5-NTs, 42-103655 and 42-103728, flown by 2d Lt. John Keane "Jack" Egar and 2d Lt. James R. Cope, respectively, crashed on this date.  The fighters, which were stationed at Pinellas Army Air Field, Florida, departed the airfield at 0700 hrs EWT originally for a local gunnery training mission, but instead flew to Jacksonville.  At ~0745 hrs, Egar and Cope descended to an altitude of ~75 feet to buzz Egar's childhood home, which they had reportedly done before just two weeks prior.  Egar's plane hit two trees and skidded across a street before hitting another tree, several houses, and a line of garages.  Cole apparently took evasive action to avoid Egar's plane, but in doing so he himself hit a cluster of trees and flew into a house, resulting in one civilian fatality and a fire that destroyed the house and the house next door.  Both Egar and Cole were killed, and three civilians were injured, one seriously.  A commemoration of the accident was held at the crash site on 21 July 2012.
  26 October 1944
  A North American P-51D-15-NA, 44-15669, piloted by WASP pilot Gertrude Tompkins Silver, disappeared while ferrying the aircraft from Mines Field, Los Angeles, California, to Palm Springs, Florida.  A massive search effort was conducted, although it was delayed several days due to a paperwork foul-up, but no trace of Silver or the aircraft were found.  That day, a 12 year old Frank Jacobs stood at the end of a pier in Manhattan Beach, California, when he saw a "silver plane" spiral into the sea.  Based on his report, another search for the aircraft was conducted in October 2009, but found nothing.  Silver is currently the only missing WASP pilot.
  19 January 1945
  A Royal Air Force North American Mustang Mk IV, KH648, piloted by Gp. Capt. J. F. X. McKenna, crashed during a familiarization flight over Old Sarum Airfield when the cover of its ammunition box detached at high speed and caused the wing to shed.  McKenna was killed in the accident.
  6 May 1945
  North American P-51D-5-NA "Mine 3 Express", 44-13720, piloted by 1st Lt. Vincent J. Rudnick, was on a local aerobatics and training flight out of Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, when Rudnick lost control of the aircraft near Stoke Ferry at the top of a loop.  The aircraft went into an irrecoverable spin and Rudnick bailed out before the aircraft hit the ground.
  September 1946
  Two Mustangs, North American P-51K-10-NT, NX6611 (ex-44-12140), and North American F-6K-15-NT "Full House" ("Race 80"), NX66111 (ex-44-12852) crashed in during the Bendix Trophy air race held in Cleveland, Ohio.  NX6611 was subsequently rebuilt, and is in storage with the registration N119VF as of 2012.  "Full House" was rebuilt as a Cavalier Mustang, and as of 2002 flies as "Frenesi" (N357FG).
  8 May 1947
  A North American P-51D-30-NA, 44-74652, piloted by Max J. Christensen, crashed near Cassatt, South Carolina.  Firefighters and ambulances responded to the scene, but Christensen was reportedly uninjured.
  25 July 1947
  The first North American XP-82, 44-83886, crash landed at Eglin Field, Florida.
  September 1947
  Mustangs were among the many aircraft 
caption: A-36A ex-42-83665, one of the Mustangs that crashed during the 1947 Thompson Trophy, as Margie H in 2006.
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