Black Sunday for the 5th Air Force

16th April 1944: Worst ever weather-related aviation disaster hits USAAF planes in the Pacific

The 5th Air Force had pioneered ‘skip bombing’ which proved to be effective against Japanese shipping

Douglas A-20G-30-DO Havoc "Tobias the Terrible" serial number 43-9477 of the 89th Bomb Squadron, 3rd Bomb Group, 5th Air Force, pulls out after skip bombing Taiei Maru off Wewak on 19 March 1944.

The US 5th Air Force were engaged in missions against the Japanese in New Guinea and New Britain. On the 16th April they flew against Japanese bases and airfield at Hollandia, New Guinea, [now Jayapura, Indonesia]. The mission was intended to destroy the Japanese planes in the area, prior to a landing by the Army and Marines.

There was a warning that a weather front was moving in during the mission, but the orders were to go ahead anyway. No one could have anticipated just how severe the storm could be. In the end, that tropical storm proved to be the cause of the worst operational loss the 5th Air Force suffered in a single day, including combat losses. It is believed to be the biggest single weather-related loss in aviation history.