Lt. Russell E. Murphy
Born: March 2, 1918 Family farm north of Elma, Iowa.
Died: March 16, 1944 Moody Field, Valdosta, Georgia.
Age 26
Nose-Over Landing (1st crash)
Russell was in two airplane crashes while he was in the Army Air Force. The first was on December 27, 1943 about 4:00 PM when he was landing a plane after a training flight with his instructor. The plane was a three wheeled model, with the tail lower than the front. When landing, Russ applied too much brake and the plane flipped over, head first. The accident was called a nose over landing. No one was hurt, but the plane was “damaged beyond economical repair”. (A/S in Russell’s 1st crash indicates Aviation Student).
Loss of Power on Take-off (2nd crash)
Russell’s second crash happened on March16, 1944 and was caused by loss of power of one engine on take-off, ¾ mile west of Moody Field, near Valdosta, Georgia. The crash happened at 9:50 PM on a regularly scheduled training flight. The plane was destroyed. The pilot and co-pilot (Russell Murphy) were killed instantly.
(A/S in Russell’s rank, for the first crash, indicates Aviation Student).
Crash report information is from www.AviationArchaeology.com . Some pages, after copying from micro fiche, were difficult to read and are supplied in triplicate. The original copy, plus a lighter and a darker copy. Some readers will find one or the other easier to view. The report is presented as received.