The remains of a B-36 bomber that crashed in 1953 on a hill in Newfoundland

The Convair B-36 Peacemaker was a massive strategic bomber built by the United States after the end of World War II.

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The B-36 was a huge aircraft, with a fuselage 49.4 metres (165 ft) long and a wingspan of 70.1 metres (230 ft). It was the largest mass-produced piston-engined bomber, although its powerplant was mixed: six Pratt & Whitney R-4360-53 Wasp Major radial piston engines and four General Electric J47 turbojets. 384 B-36s were built for the US Air Force, of which only four remain complete. This model had a troubled history despite only eleven years in service (1948-1959): the aircraft's magnesium-rich fuselage caught fire easily, and 32 B-36s were lost in accidents, the worst of which occurred in Newfoundland, Canada.

On 18 March 1953, an RB-36H-25 (a photo-reconnaissance version of the B-36), 51-13721, was flying from Lajes in the Azores to Rapid City AFB, South Dakota. The aircraft was carrying a crew of 23, including Brigadier General Richard E. Ellsworth in the co-pilot’s seat. The aircraft was flying in radio silence on a 25-hour training mission, so its radar was off and it was navigating by celestial navigation. 51-13721 arrived in Newfoundland ahead of schedule, at night and in poor visibility due to rain. The aircraft crashed into a hillside in Burgoyne’s Cove at 4:10 a.m.

All 23 people on board were killed in the crash. Loggers watched as the plane turned into a huge fireball at the moment of impact. That same night, an SB-29 Super Dumbo (the rescue version of the B-29 bomber), 44-69982, was sent to assist in the rescue from Stephenville, Newfoundland. At 7:45 p.m. a civilian saw a red flare near the shoreline in St. George's Bay. The SB-29 disappeared without a trace. The plane and its 10 crew members have still not been found.

Today, the fate of that SB-29 remains a mystery. The plane is believed to have crashed in St. George's Bay, sinking into the sea. Also, many remains of the B-36 can still be seen at the crash site. Shortly after this accident, Rapid City AFB was renamed Ellsworth AFB, in honor of the deceased general. Last Saturday, Abandoned Urbex Canada showed the remains of this plane in an interesting video:

You can see some screenshots from this impressive video here. Here we see the tail section of the RB-36H. You can see its interior in the video.

The remains of one of the wings of the RB-36H. There are remains of this aircraft scattered over a wide area on that hill.

One of the landing gear wheels of the RB-36H. The video shows several of the aircraft's wheels as well as parts of its radial engines and one of its turbojets.

The monument on top of the hill, remembering the victims of this accident. One of the blades of the enormous propellers of the crashed plane was placed on the monument.