B29 Superfortress bomber | 1948 Crash Site Memorial

The 1948 Waycross B-29 crash occurred on 6 October 1948 when an engine fire contributed to the crash of a Boeing B-29-100-BW Superfortress bomber in Waycross, Georgia. The plane was from the 3150th Electronics Squadron, United States Air Force and had tail number 45-21866. The crash occurred during climb to altitude from Robins Air Force Base and killed nine of thirteen men aboard, including three RCA engineers. Four men parachuted to safety. Because the flight was a test of the "sunseeker" (a heat-seeking device later used in the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile), the Federal government asserted the state secrets privilege to avoid having to provide the NTSB accident report in a subsequent suit for damages by victims of the crash and their heirs, despite the device playing no role in the crash itself and not being referred to in the report.