Aviation News Item: 09579

10th Jun 2010

Source: aero-news.net

B-17E Bomber Recovered From A Remote New Guinea Crash Site
After taking part in the first long-range U.S. bombing mission of World War II following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, a B-17E Flying Fortress crashed in one of the most remote locations on Earth On Feb. 23, 1942, ... a primitive swamp on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. The nine-member crew survived the ordeal, but the Flying Fortress was not so lucky. Damage from enemy gunfire and loss of fuel forced the pilot to crash-land the plane.

After a harrowing six-week escape to safety, the crew returned to combat. However, for the next 64 years, the bomber, nicknamed Swamp Ghost, languished beneath water and tall grass until it was salvaged in 2006.

Now, nearly 70 years since she went down, the Swamp Ghost is returning to the U.S. The "remarkably intact" front fuselage will be unveiled at a ceremony in Long Beach, CA, Friday morning, accompanied by a P-51 Mustang and P-40 Warhawk flyover above Long Beach Harbor.

The event will be attended by members of the salvage team, including John Tallichet, president and CEO of Specialty Restaurants Corp., whose late father David Tallichet initiated recovery efforts in the mid-1980s. The elder Talliecht was a collector of World War II aircraft. Also attending will be Alfred Hagen, Aero Archaeology founder and Swamp Ghost salvage team leader, who has helped locate seven missing aircraft and returned more than a dozen MIA airmen to the U.S., and Linda Oliver, a California resident and widow of aircraft bombardier Col. Richard Oliver, whose last wish was to see his warbird come home. Other surviving relatives of Swamp Ghost air crew plan to attend as well.

The event will begin at 1000 PDT Friday at The Reef restaurant parking lot, 880 Harbor Scenic Drive in Long Beach, CA.

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