On 18 October 1944 Tenney was flying as a passenger aboard B-24 Liberator serial number 42-50347 from Greencastle, Ireland to Tibenham on a familiarisation flight over Britain. Tenney was among 24 replacement crewmen who had been sent to the 445th Bomb Group after the unit had suffered heavy losses on the Kassel mission in September that year.



During the flight the B-24 broke up in mid-air over Birkenhead and all 24 men on board were killed when it crashed near Landican. The cause of the accident was never officially determined, though a fuel leak was cited as a possible factor.