1948 Georgia USAF Boeing B-29 crash

The 1948 Waycross B-29 crash occurred on 6 October 1948 when an engine fire contributed to the crash of a Boeing B-29-100-BW Superfortress bomber in Waycross, Georgia. The plane was from the 3150th Electronics Squadron, United States Air Force and had tail number 45-21866. The crash occurred during a climb to altitude from the Robins Air Force Base and killed nine of thirteen men aboard, including three RCA engineers. Four men parachuted to safety. Because the flight was a test of the "sunseeker" (a heat-seeking device later used in the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile), the federal government asserted the state secrets privilege to avoid having to provide the Air Force's accident report in a subsequent suit for damages by victims of the crash and their heirs, despite the device playing no role in the crash itself and not being referred to in the report.