PV-2 Harpoon, BuNo 37528

From Navy Accident Report

 

NAS Seattle at Sand Point

September 4, 1947

 

On September 4, 1947, Ensign Richard Donelson and his co-pilot, Lieutenant Raymond Soelter, ditched a PV-2 Harpoon roughly 1,000 yards north of the end of the runway at Sand Point. The Aircraft Accident Report for this incident states:

The pilot stated the controls were checked prior to taxiing and worked satisfactorily. Before the takeoff run, the pilot set the elevator tab at the 5º nose up position. During the takeoff run, the pilot states that the tail was slow lifting and that he rolled the nose down tab # of degrees unknown. The tail raised satisfactorily and to aid in becoming airborne the pilot rolled the tab towards the nose up position, # of degrees were not checked. The aircraft did not respond to movements of the elevator controls, although the pilot stated he could feel pressure on the controls indicating that the elevator was functioning normally.

There were many eyewitnesses to this accident and all agreed that the speed of the aircraft at last of run was more than sufficient for takeoff. Switches were out at the end of the runway, the flaps were lowered, the wheels remained extended, and the aircraft was ditched approximately 1,000 yards off the end of the runway. When the aircraft left the runway, it had between 0 and 3 feet of altitude and it gained approximately 20 feet after the flaps were lowered. The aircraft hit the water in 3 pt. attitude and was reported by pilots and witnesses to have skipped three times before nosing up. This is of interest as the wheels were extended and the witnesses reported that the aircraft skipped off the wheels and not the fuselage. The aircraft was fueled to 800 gallons and 200 lbs. of sand was placed in the aft section giving satisfactory center of gravity. The investigation disclosed that this aircraft had a reputation for the controls being sloppy. This discrepancy had never been reported. The actual cause of the accident cannot be determined because the aircraft was never recovered.

The Aircraft Accident Summary Report for this incident gives the purpose of the flight simply as "bombing," and it gives no detail about the status of the ordinance on board the aircraft. However, it is rumored that a 500 lb. bomb lies on the bottom near the aircraft. It is not known whether this is a dummy practice bomb or not.