Warbird Information Exchange

A coworker of mine was telling me that when he was in the Navy many years ago(1970s-1990s), that he'd noticed a B-17 which was at Diego Garcia(Very small island base in the Indian Ocean). He said it had crashed there, but British authorities in charge of the place would not let anyone near it.

I haven't done a search here yet- Has anyone posted anything about it? Is there any status on this A/C?

Robbie

There's the fairly well-known hulk of a PBY that was driven up on the beach and wrecked by a storm during the war - is he maybe thinking of this one?

_________________

All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

that is crashed there

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/10024429

He said it was a B-17, but I have no idea if he may be mistaken...

I just double checked with him after work- It IS the PBY: I showed him the pic, and he said that was the one... He said there was a B-17 on one of the islands he'd visited with the Navy....

The search goes on...

Thanks Guys! I swear I could mention I needed to know about a B-25 in the South China Sea, and someone would find me a picture, tail number, and history on it, as well as list of survivors and progeny, including current phone numbers!(fictitious aircraft, for demonstration purposes only. Please do not waste time looking for fictitious aircraft. Unless you know where they can be found...)

Robbie

Robbie,

I don't know if this is the same Fortress as your friend remembered on an island, but one of four B-17s destined for Israel in 1948 was left in the Azores. The Portugese authorities impounded the airplane during a fuel/maintenance stop. I don't recall the ultimate fate of that airplane--it could be the Fort he saw while in the Navy.

S

I flew out of Dodge back in 1995-96, and that PBY hulk was in very sad shape even back then.

Gotta remember, torrential rains there all the time. Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory, and even though it's a friendly base and lots of beach to walk up and down, there are certain areas of the island that are/were off limits to the Yanks. Unfortunately, that was one of them, because I tried a few times to talk someone into letting me go out there to photograph it. No dice.

_________________
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......

It's small...but it does have a 13,000 foot runway on it. HUGE ramp where SAC staged B-52's out of for the Gulf Conflicts, and the Navy maintains a year-round P-3 detachment there as well.

If I recall, the runway is one of the emergency landing fields for the Space Shuttle.

_________________
Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......