near Rosamond, California, breaking his back; he was sidelined for six months. 27 March RAF Consolidated LB-30 Liberator II AL504, the first Mk. II accepted by the British, was converted to VIP transport for the prime minister and named Commando; it had received a single PB4Y-style fin and rudder modification. The plane was lost over the Atlantic Ocean between the Azores and Ottawa. Lost with the crew were Air Marshal Peter Roy Maxwell Drummond, the RAF's Air Member for Training; Rupert Brabner MP, the Under-Secretary of State for Air, and Air Ministry deputy undersecretary John Abraham. 31 March USAAF C-47 crashed in England killing co-pilot 2LT Joseph Lincoln Cotterman according to a Telegram received by the pilots family. April–June 1945 5 April A prototype Ryan XFR-1 Fireball, BuNo 48234, piloted by Ryan test pilot Dean Lake on a test flight over Lindbergh Field in San Diego, California, lost skin between the front and rear spars of the starboard wing; interrupted airflow over the wing made it disintegrate. Lake bailed out, and the airframe broke up; wreckage struck a new Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer, BuNo 59836, just accepted by the Navy and preparing to depart for the modification center at Litchfield Park, Arizona. The bomber burned, and the Navy crew of pilot Lt. D. W. Rietz, Lt. J. E. Creed, and Aviation Machinists Mates G. R. Brown and J. H. Randall evacuated the burning PB4Y. Only Randall was injured: first-, second- and third-degree burns and minor lacerations. 5 April Boeing B-17G-50-VE Flying Fortress 44-8152, c/n 7552 ("Miss Ida") of the 748th Bomb Squadron (H), 457th Bomb Group (H), was lost on takeoff from RAF Glatton. Its target was the ordnance depot in Ingolstadt, Germany. The commanding officer of the 748th, Major Edward B. Dozier, was the designated air commander. As the lead aircraft (containing Dozier and Lt. Donald B. Snow) lifted off the runway, the number-two (port inner) engine caught fire. The airframe crashed just past the end of the runway; the bomb-load explosion was heard throughout the airfield, and created an crater. Nine men were killed, and one crew member survived. The mission was delayed and was out of position in the bomber stream because of the accident. The group bombed in trail at because of heavy clouds at the briefed altitude, and the bombing results were unknown. 8 April The first prototype Rikugun Ki-93 1 twin-engine fighter made its only