In 2007 while hiking in the Beartown Wilderness, I located what I believed to be the remains of a military aircraft located near the summit of Garden Mountain (sometimes called Balsam Mt.) in Tazewell County, Virginia. The mountain is the 3th highest in Virginia (based on 1,000 foot prominence) and is one of the border mountains around Burke's Garden, the highest valley in Virginia. The paint appeared to be military in color but I had no experience with military aircraft. The elevation of the wreckage is approximately 4,680 feet with the peak elevation of the mountain at 4,710 feet. The wreckage that has been located so far is in a very dense rhododendron thicket.

After some research, and a lot of help along the way from many different people, it is now apparent that this is the crash site of a WWII-era P-51D Mustang [Serial #44-73077] of the Michigan Air National Guard 172nd Fighter Squadron on a training flight from Battle Creek, Michigan to Charlotte, North Carolina. 1st Lt Robert Brannon "Bob" Smith (born 23 Feb 1922), of Lansing, Michigan, was killed on 19 March 1954 when his P-51 crashed in the mountains near Tazewell VA. The aircraft was on a heading of approximately 160 when it impacted the ridge at about 4,700 feet - in heavy cloud cover and just below the summit. The newspaper accounts from the Bristol Herald Courier are typed out below. If anyone has any additional information concerning this crash site, or any photographs of this plane or how a Michigan ANG P-51 would have been marked in 1954, please contact me at the e-mail address below. I'm planning on making return trip in 2023 to look for additional wreckage, etc.

Link to Photographs of Wreckage Found at Crash Site

After reading the official Air Force accident report I think I have figured out quite a bit about the crash. Using Google Earth, I plotted a direct course from Charleston, WV (last reported sighting) to Charlotte, NC.  It turns out that the flight path crosses Garden Mountain only 4.6 miles from the crash site.  The point that the projected flight path crosses Garden Mountain is only 3,589 feet - flying directly over Burke's Garden which is the highest valley in Virginia.  This would have been about 90 miles out from Charleston - a very short flight in a P-51 of maybe 15 to 20 minutes. I grew up in this mountainous area of Virginia and have seen low cloud cover many times - especially in late winter when fog sets in on the mountain tops.  The problem is that all of the mountain chains in this part of Virginia run from NE to SW - basically perpendicular to his projected flight path - Garden Mountain is no exception and connects directly to Clinch Mountain and East River Mountain which run for well over 100 miles - almost all above 2,500 feet.  If Lt. Smith was flying VFR (visually), which is what is stated in the flight plan, he would have still had to go up into the cloud cover each time he crossed one of these mountain chains - there is simply no way to fly around them and continue South with cloud ceiling of 2,500 feet.  "Aircraft was observed flying under the overcast" on the medical report seems to confirm that he was attempting to remain below the cloud cover but this would have been impossible on a southerly heading.  Since the highest point on his entire projected flight path was under 4,300 feet (4,269 when crossing Buck Mountain in the Grayson Highlands of Virginia), Lt. Smith would have probably assumed that 4,700 feet would have been a safe altitude to cross any mountain chain - even in the low cloud cover. The problem is that Garden Mountain rises steeply on the western rim of Burke's Garden to just over 4,700 feet (4th highest point in Virginia) and this peak was just 4.6 miles off his projected flight path. March winds probably pushed him a little off course as he headed south to Charlotte and altimeters of that day had nowhere near the accuracy of today's GPS units. Lt. Smith clipped the trees just a few feet below the summit at about 4,690 feet - just 50 more feet of elevation would have made the difference.  This small point (maybe just a couple acres) was the only spot within 10 miles of the entire projected flight path from Charleston to Charlotte that he would have impacted flying at 4,700 feet in the cloud cover.  Based on the crash report I also believe I have determined which ravine that the engine and cockpit came to rest in.  Below is what I believe to be the projected flight path.  I'll try to make another trip up there sometime in 2023 and see what I can find.

Robert was the son of Anthony A Smith and Hazel M (Brannan) Smith. He married Marjorie Helen Dunham June 30, 1945 in Lansing, Michigan.

First Lieutenant Robert Smith was killed when his P-51 Mustang aircraft crashed near the summit of towering Chestnut Ridge in the Burke’s Garden section of mountainous Tazewell County, Virginia in heavy cloud cover. The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and light bomber used during World War II and other conflicts. Lt Smith was on a navigational training flight from Battle Creek, Michigan to Charlotte, North Carolina. The aircraft impacted the ridge at about 4,680 feet in a very dense rhododendron thicket. The plane had careened through the treetops for about 200 yards before finally crashing about 100 feet from the top of the ridge. Low cloud cover is especially common in late winter when fog sets in on the mountain tops.  When last heard from, the pilot had made a routine radio report to Charleston, West Virginia. He failed to report at his next point, Pulaski, Virginia. The medical report seems to confirm that he was attempting to remain below the cloud cover but this would have been impossible on a southerly heading.  The burned body of the pilot was found slumped in the cockpit wreckage. Lt Smith had only been with the 172nd Squadron for six months but he was a veteran pilot who was a World War II flier and his loss was felt by all the squadron. He was in the insurance business with his father. He was 32, married, and had no children.

Low ceilings from dust laden clouds hampered air search by five area Civil Air Patrol squadrons for a missing P-51 Air National Guard plane piloted by Lt. R. B. Smith of Lansing, Michigan, and believed down somewhere in the Tennessee-North Carolina mountains. 

Lt. Col. Tom Kesterson, commander of the Tennessee mission said the plane piloted by Lt. Smith was on a routine training flight from Battle Creek, Michigan to Charlotte, North Carolina. 

At Charleston, West Virginia, CAA officials said the pilot took off from there on Friday morning and was heard from when he said that he would check by radio with Pulaski, Virginia. Pulaski reported no call from him. 

More than 30 Civil Air Patrol planes from East Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia joined in the search yesterday. 

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12-Feb-2012 20:14

I backpack Bear town Wilderness at least once a year and have located this crash.

Very small pocket of wilderness and very remote.