Nebraska WWII Fatal Crash Site #
54
Wellfleet
A crew of fourteen airmen from the McCook Army Air Field were coming back from Maxwell Field in Alabama, when their plane crashed southwest of Wellfleet, or west of Maywood. The B-17F (42-6071) crew had gone to pick up a stranded B-29 crew who were also from the McCook Army Air Field. A stop was also made in St. Louis to pick up four other airmen. During the early morning hours in darkness, the crew thought they were much higher, but due to a wrong altimeter setting they struck the ground and skidded while the plane broke apart. Five of the crew, who were mostly sleeping in the nose section of the plane, were killed. Others were badly injured, but later recovered.
April 10, 1945
This site was visited on March 31, 2007, along with the assistance of three eyewitnesses to the crash site. Evidence of the exact location in a cultivated field was found by using a metal detector.
These three eyewitnesses helped to confirm the site location in a cornfield.
Crash Site Book
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