The Elmendorf-based plane crashed in 1957 during a training flight

The 'Bomber Glacier': The wreckage of a B-29 on a remote mountain of Alaska

Esp 12·16·2022 · 23:28 0

Alaska is a place with spectacular landscapes and a very rugged orography. An ideal place for lovers of hiking and mountaineering.

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Plus, there's a place in Alaska that may pique the interest of aviation fans. It is popularly known as the Bomber Glacier, because a Boeing TB-29 Superfortress training plane crashed there on November 15, 1957. The plane was a derivative of the famous bomber model that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan during World War II. His registration number was 44-70039, and it belonged to the 5040th Radar Evaluation Squadron of the United States Air Force, based at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage.

The plane had 10 crew members on board and was doing a radar calibration training mission. Due to bad weather, the plane was diverted from its route and ended up crashing on an unnamed glacier in the Talkeetna Mountains, in southern Alaska, at an elevation of 1,700 meters. As a result of the accident, six of the crew died, and the other four were injured. At present the remains of the plane are still there, due to the difficulty of removing them from such a remote place. Last summer, the channel Outdoor Boys posted a video in which a mountaineer climbs the glacier in search of the remains of that crashed plane:

You can see here some screenshots of the video, which includes many spectacular views of that mountainous area of Alaska . Here I focus only on some images of the plane wreckage. Here we see a part of the fuselage.

Another part of the fuselage, with the "U.S. Air Force" lettering still intact and as if the plane had crashed just a few days ago.

One of the plane's four engines, with the propeller blades fully bent.

Two of the wheels of the plane's main landing gear. The good condition of the tires is surprising despite having spent 65 years outdoors.

The plaque placed on the plane's fuselage, in memory of the crew members who died in that accident. They were Major Robert A. Butler, Captain Richard O. Seaman, Captain Erwin Stolfich, Captain Edward A. Valiant, 1st Lt. William J. Schreffler, and Basic Airman James R. Roberson.

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