Aeronautical Society in 1944 and appointed commandant of the Empire Test Pilots' School of the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment in March of that year, was killed during a familiarisation flight on Mustang Mk IV KH648. The plane crashed when the ammunition-box cover detached at high speed and the aircraft lost a wing on the perimeter of Old Sarum Airfield, north-northeast of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. 23 January An RAF Expeditor was lost in the Adriatic Sea near Brindisi. The aircraft was one of two carrying a delegation from the House of Commons to visit British forces in Italy; two members of Parliament, Robert Bernays and John Dermot Campbell, were killed. The plane was not found, and an investigation concluded that the pilot had attempted to push on through a heavy snowstorm rather than change course. 30 January A Consolidated B-24L-1-FO Liberator, 44-49180, crashed west of Helendale, California. The crew consisted of 1st Lt. James G. Wright (pilot), 2nd Lt. Norbert J. Vehr (copilot), 2nd Lt. Carl F. Hansen (radar instructor), 2nd Lt. John R. Palin (radar student), 2nd Lt. Herbert A. Perry (radar student), and T/Sgt. Harvey L. Cook (flight engineer). Perry, Vehr and Cook died in the crash, and the remaining crew members bailed out. The wreckage was recovered to Victorville Army Airfield, California, in February 1945, and reclamation was complete on 9 February. February The Akutan Zero was destroyed during a training accident at Naval Air Station San Diego, California. While Cmdr. Richard G. Crommelin was taxiing the Mitsubishi A6M for take-off, a Curtiss SB2C Helldiver went out of control and crashed into it; the Helldiver's propeller sliced the A6M to pieces. From the wreckage, Rear Admiral William N. Leonard salvaged the manifold pressure gauge, air-speed indicator and the folding panel of the port wingtip, which he donated to the National Museum of the United States Navy. The Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum has two manufacturer's plates, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has small pieces of the A6M. Crommelin, one of the five Alabama brothers who graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy, was killed in a mid-air collision on a mission over Hokkaido in July 1945. is named for the brothers. 1 February An RAF Avro York (MW116) crashed off Lampedusa while attempting to ditch after running out of fuel en route to Malta. Four crew members were injured and rescued by ; four other