recorded serial that ties up to an AT-6A-NT Texan rather than the reported PT-22. 30 September "Hondo, Texas, Sept. 30 – Two officers and two enlisted men were killed in an airplane accident near the A.A.F. navigation school here. The dead included Capt. John G. Rafferty, 40, Monrovia, California." Lockheed A-28A-LO Hudson, 42-46980, of the 846th School Squadron, Hondo Army Airfield Navigation School, Texas, crashed 2.5 miles E – 1.5 mile N of the base due to a spin / stall after takeoff. Capt. Rafferty was the pilot. October DAR 10 (ДАР-10), light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, one of only two prototypes, crashes this month (Darzhavna Aeroplanna Rabotilnica – State Airplane Workshop) (Bekas – snipe). In spite of good flight reviews, the type was not chosen for production and the high-wing Kaproni Bulgarski KB-11 Fazan was selected for production instead. October Early production Messerschmitt Me 163B Komet being test flown by renowned pre-war glider and test pilot Hanna Reitsch, from Obertraubling, near Regensburg, while on unpowered flight towed by Messerschmitt Bf 110, jettisoning of take-off dolley at altitude fails, causing severe juddering of airframe. Bf 110 tows Reitsch to height of and Reitsch casts off. Despite violent maneuvering to try to shake off dolly, which also fails, Reitsch decides to attempt landing in order to save aircraft. On approach to field, sideslipping to lose height, the unfuelled Me 163 stalls at a higher than normal airspeed, due to disturbed airflow caused by wheels of dolly. Komet impacts ground and somersaults. Although conscious immediately after the crash, Reitsch passes out as rescuers arrive. She is taken to the Hospital of the Sisters of Mercy, Regensburg, where she is discovered to be suffering from skull fractures in four places, compression of the brain, displacement of the upper jaw-bones, and separation of the bones of the nose. Regaining consciousness in hospital, she makes a slow recovery, being well enough to be discharged from hospital in March 1943. Shortly after the accident, Reitsch is awarded the Iron Cross, First Class. 1 October The Associated Press reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico, that a USAAF transport had crashed in the mountains NW of the town of Coamo, in southern Puerto Rico, killing all 22 on board. "Names of the dead were not announced immediately pending notification of relatives in the United States. Several civilians were known to have been aboard. The plane crashed shortly after