WWII Bomber Stars in Television Show | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-05.06.24

Airborne-NextGen-05.07.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.08.24 Airborne-FlightTraining-05.09.24

Airborne-Unlimited-05.10.24

Fri, Jan 17, 2003

WWII Bomber Stars in Television Show

Wreck Found in Russia: "Bomber 31"

On March 25, 1944, a U.S. Navy bomber disappeared into the fog over the Bering Sea heading for a Japanese target. Fifty-five years later it suddenly reemerged with a remarkable tale. NOVA traveled to the plane's final resting place to unravel the mystery. Using clues found at the crash site and the latest forensic techniques, a U.S. government team got to the bottom of this half-century-old disappearance.

Taking off from Attu in the Aleutian Islands at the height of World War II, Bomber 31 was on its way to attack a Japanese outpost guarding the northern approach to Japan's main islands. The mission was part of a largely forgotten campaign in the Pacific war -- a bold diversion to convince the Japanese that American forces were preparing to invade from the north, forcing the imperial command to deploy valuable resources to defend that front. At the same time, Allied forces under General Douglas MacArthur were making the main push from the south.

Of the five planes in Bomber 31's squadron, one crashed on take-off, and three completed the mission. Bomber 31 and its seven-man crew went missing for more than half a century.

Then in 1999 the U.S. embassy in Moscow received a surprising package: half a dozen photographs taken by a Russian historian, showing the wreckage of a World War II-era American bomber discovered on the slope of a volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Siberia. How the plane got there and what happened to its crew are mysteries that only deepened as NOVA arrived with investigators from the United States to explore the remains -- the first recovery team of its kind allowed in Russia.

At the outset, all that was known for certain was that this was Bomber 31, confirmed by the type of aircraft -- a U.S. Navy PV-1 -- and the faded "31" stenciled on the tail. The party included a ten-person U.S. Army recovery team, headed by forensic anthropologist Ann Bunch. Also participating were Ralph Wetterhahn, a Vietnam veteran and military crash investigator, and Tom Rains, who was only ten months old when his father disappeared on Bomber 31's final mission.

Super-secret area wasn't where Russians wanted Americans searching...

The trail of evidence leads to a strange story told by a Russian geologist who chanced on the wreckage in 1962 and remembers finding four bodies. At that time, the Kamchatka Peninsula was the site of an ultra-secret Soviet military base. Alerted to the presence of the plane, the KGB took charge and probably dispersed the wreckage to disguise it from U.S. spy satellites. (What they did with the bodies is still unknown.) After scouring the site, the recovery team found small bits of bone, which were sent to the United States for DNA analysis in hopes that the half-century-old fragments could be matched to relatives of missing crew members.

Also at the crash site, Wetterhahn found telltale evidence of the plane's last moments. Battle damage on the engines shows that Bomber 31 was in distress, and an unexploded bomb implies that it had not performed its mission.

Working backward from Bomber 31's assigned target -- the Japanese base at Shumshu in the Kuril Islands -- Wetterhahn took NOVA through a likely scenario that brought the plane and crew to a daring landing and a heroic last struggle. 

Imminent re-airings of this show are detailed on the website.

FMI: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.07.24): Hazardous Weather Information

Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (05.07.24)

Aero Linx: The T-6 Racing Association The T-6 Racing Association is all about T-6‘s and racing. Our mission is to bring great racing to our fans in Reno and other venues wher>[...]

Airborne 05.01.24: WACO Kitchen, FAA Reauthorization, World Skydiving Day

Also: Electra Aero, AMO-CBP v Smugglers, Naval King Airs, Boeing Deal To the surprise of everyone involved, Waco Kitchen shut down both airport operations with little warning and h>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 05.02.24: Bobby Bailey, SPRG Report Cards, Skydive!

Also: WACO Kitchen Bails, French SportPlane Mfr to FL, Dynon-Advance Flight Systems, Innovation Preview Bobby Bailey, a bit of a fixture in sport aviation circles for his work with>[...]

Airborne 05.03.24: Advanced Powerplant Solutions, PRA Runway Woes, Drone Racing

Also: Virgin Galactic, B-29 Doc to Allentown, Erickson Fire-Fighters Bought, FAA Reauthorization After dealing with a big letdown after the unexpected decision by Skyreach to disco>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2024 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC