Read the details of the first B-29 crash within the 468th Bomb Group in Salina, Kansas on October 24, 1943. This material has never been presented in any forum before. See the link to the right.
From the Group and Squadron Histories:
On a Sunday in October, those on duty at Smoky Hill saw their first crash of a B-29. From the field they could see this plane trying to climb, then slowly do a cartwheel on its right wing and plummet below the trees and housetops. Then the black smoke appeared. All aboard were killed except the tail gunner, and the plane was a total loss. It was a sobering thing to see, but the following morning everyone was back to his training bit. That deep belief, “It can’t happen to me”, so often true of combat men, seemed to prevail.