The year is 1972, and some Australian military members are flying in a Royal Australian Air Force helicopter. As they fly over this isolated part of Papua New Guinea with nothing but wetland and jungles, they spot something surprising.
warhistoryonline.com
There, in the middle of the jungle, is a ginormous, partially submerged aircraft. This is the same aircraft that has been missing for three decades now! Has the military finally unravelled the mystery that captivated the people all these years? It sure does seem so.
Papua New Guinea
When you find out exactly where the missing aircraft was located, it will make sense why nobody could find it all those years. It was found in a country that is considered one of the world’s least explored, both culturally and geographically.
Ryan Hawk
Papua New Guinea is home to some of the world’s most exotic flora and fauna. In fact, researchers believe there are still more undiscovered species in the country. Its cohabitating ecosystems include rainforests, swamps, mountains, and volcanoes.
Agaiambo
The Australian soldiers were flying over a crocodile-infested swamp in the Oro Province called Agaiambo. It was in this swamp that they spotted the missing aircraft. That would probably explain why it took so long to find this aircraft.
photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov
Simply put, the Agaimbo was in an extremely well-preserved area, meaning not even tourists or locally accessed the area much. It used to be home to a group of marsh-dwellers called the Agaiambo/Agaumbu but were now considered extinct. Other than these people, nobody else lived in the area.
The Swamp Ghost
The soldiers knew it was an aircraft, but what kind of aircraft was it? As it turns out, this was the Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress that went missing in 1942. Since its discovery, it has now been nicknamed the Swamp Ghost.
warhistoryonline.com
Through the years, this aircraft came to be known as a legend in military aviation history. According to aviation archaeologist Fred Hagen, “It was widely considered that it was impossible to salvage this aeroplane.”
David Tallichet Jr.
One important figure in this story is David Tallichet Jr. Tallichet is a Dallas-born World War II veteran and entrepreneur. Tallichet owns numerous aviation-themed restaurants. Aside from that, he also has other things to keep him busy.
Colin Crawford/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
One of those things is collecting and restoring military aircraft. At some point in his career, he even had more than 120 planes! Some of those planes included a B-25 Mitchell Bomber and a P-40 Tomahawk.
Salvage Operation
Coincidentally, when Tallichet served in the military, he had co-piloted the same type of aircraft as the one the soldiers uncovered in Papua New Guinea. These were four-engine bombers, and Tallichet knew what to do.
aeroarchaeology.com
In 1989, Fred Hagen and David Tallichet Jr. proceeded with plans of recovering the aircraft. “It was our greatest dream,” Hagen told South California Public Radio. “Because for some reason it captured the imagination of people from around the world…”
Flying Fortress
This ginormous aircraft was called the Flying Fortress. According to rumours, Boeing gave it the name of Flying Fortress after one journalist from the Seattle Times journal said, “Why, it’s a flying fortress.” during one of its test runs.
Lone Star Flight Museum
The Flying Fortress was developed in the 1930s and employed by the US Air Force for strategic bombing against the Germans during World War II. Apparently, it has dropped more bombs than any other US aircraft during World War II.
Excavating The Swamp Ghost
Even though The Swamp Ghost spent all that time being exposed to open air and other weather conditions, the soldiers were surprised to see it remain oddly well-preserved. The machine was still in place and was even fully loaded.
history.com
Salvage operations weren’t completed until 2006. When Tallichet and Hagen finally managed to excavate the whole aircraft, it became a proud moment for them. They were standing in front of something that was part of aviation history.
Pacific Aviation Museum
On April 10, 2013, the Swamp Ghost was transferred to the Pacific Aviation Museum in Pearl Harbor for display. Previously, it was on indefinite loan to the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino Airport.
Pacific Aviation Museum/Flickr
The Pacific Aviation Museum describes it as “arguably the world’s only intact and unretired World War II-era B-17E bomber, a one-of-a-kind example of an aircraft that played an indispensable role in winning WWII. And it is the only B-17 in the world that still bears its battle scars.”
Boeing B-17E
The Boeing B-17E was initially developed for the United States Army Air Corps. Although the Air Corps made a contract with Douglas Aircraft Company, they still ordered 13 more of these prototypes from Boeing.
Three Lions/Getty Images
After its introduction in 1938, the B-17’s design evolved to add more engineering developments and address many issues. For example, it was given larger rudders and flaps so it would have optimal performance even at slower speeds.
The B-17E’s Development
Finally, the first batch of Flying Fortresses became operational in 1941. When World War II finally came to an end, an estimated total of 12,730 B-17 aircraft was in operation, including the 8,600 B-17G models.
Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images
Since it was introduced in 1938, it became the third-most produced bomber of all time. Currently, only 9 of these aircraft are still airworthy. However, none of them was ever flown in combat. The rest of the aircraft are either in storage or on display.
The Fate Of Swamp Ghost
The Swamp Ghost was en route to the United States Army Air Forces on December 6, 1941, just a day before the attack on Pearl Harbor. As fate decided, it would not fly with the Kangaroo Squadron on that fateful day.
world-war-2.wikia.org
Instead, it later left California and headed to Hickam Field in Pearl Harbor. From December 1941 until 1942, the crew flew patrol missions for the US Navy. Then, in February 1942, the Japanese invaded Rabaul on New Britain.
Rabaul
Japan’s invasion threatened the safety of New Guinea and Australia. So, the Swamp Ghost was ordered to head to Townsville in Queensland, Australia. Due to many complications, the aircraft had nearly 5,700 detour miles just to get to Townsville.
firstaerosquadron.com
On the fateful day of February 22, 1942, nine B-17Es were tasked to set off a bomb in Rabaul. Then, things didn’t go quite as they had planned. Due to mechanical problems, 4 out of the 9 dropped out of the mission.
The Mission
The Swamp Ghost was being piloted by Captain Frederick “Fred” C. Eaton Jr. When the crew tried to open the bomb bay doors to drop its load, that was when things really started to go south for the entire crew.
theswampghost.com
The bomb bay malfunctioned! They were forced to go around for a second pass. Thankfully, they managed to make a clear drop. However, due to the first fiasco, they managed to attract the attention of Japanese fighter planes.
The Fall Of Swamp Ghost
As Japanese fires ensured all around them, the crew was starting to get worried. Flak had managed to make a hole right through the starboard wing. Fortunately, the flak did not explode, so the crew were still safe… for now.
worldwartwo.filminspector.com
The crew was hoping to return to Port Moresby, but the fuel wasn’t enough. Besides, the plane was now leaking fuel. They had no other choice but to make an emergency landing somewhere and try to save themselves.
A Crash Landing
Instead of trying to hold it out, Captain Fred Eaton thought the best course of action would be making an emergency landing. While approaching the Owen Stanley Mountains, he saw a wheat field that he believed to be the best place to land.
301bg.com
As Captain Eaton was setting down the plane, it was only then when they realized that this was no wheat field. In fact, they landed in the middle of the Agaiambo swamp! There was no way of backing out now, so they went through with it.
Surviving Crew
Thankfully, the plane was set down so well that the crew did not suffer from any injury, except for a few cuts and scrapes. But now the problem was that they were stuck literally in the middle of nowhere.
David Tipling/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
For days, they wandered through the swamps. It took them two days of cutting through the tall grass to reach dry land finally. For many more days after, they navigated through the forests of Papua New Guinea, tired, hungry, and sick.
Nursed Back To Health
Finally, they met some locals who were chopping wood. The locals took pity on them and kindly brought them back to their village. They were given food and were allowed to rest for a night before continuing their journey.
firstaerosquadron.com
After their rest, they were eventually handed over to the Australian magistrate and finally arrived at Port Moresby, thirty-six days after their plane crashed. After being nursed back to health, they returned to combat.
Rediscovering Swamp Ghost
For a while, the Swamp Ghost was forgotten. That is until the Australian soldiers rediscovered it during their flyover. Hagen and Tallichet completely salved the aircraft by 2006. Afterwards, it was bound for great things.
aeroarchaeology.com
For some time, the salvaged plane was not allowed to leave Papua New Guinea, but four years after its salvage, it was finally given permission to head back to the United States. It had its first public viewing in Long Beach, California. Family members of the original crew were among those who saw it for the first time.
Preserving A National Treasure
Ever since it was handed over to the Pacific Aviation Museum in Hawaii, it has remained there. The museum has been vocal about its plans to restore the bomber into its original state and have it on display in Ford Island.
Pacific Aviation Museum
Ford Island is an islet just at the centre of Pearl Harbor. The cost for restoring the Swamp Ghost is estimated to be more than $5 million, but that is an acceptable figure considering it’s for the preservation of a national treasure with lots of history.