About the Airplane
- The Missing Air Crew Reports No.
- 2579
- The type of the plane.
- B-17G
- The plane ID.
- 42-31666
- The name of the plane.
- Miss Laid
- The squadron the bomber belongs to.
- 96th Bomb Squadron
- The date of the bomber's crash.
- 1944-02-24
- The reason for the bomber's crash.
- Jäger
- The place the bomber targeted.
- Steyr
- The place where the bomber crashed.
- Weignersdorf
- Coordinates of the site the bomber was last seen at.
- 47°29'N, 14°28'E
- The city or village the bomber was last seen at.
- Trieben
- The country or county the bomber was last seen at.
- Time of the day the bomber was last seen at.
- 13:15
- Time of the crash.
- Comments.
- Das Flugzeug wurde knapp vor dem Zielgebiet von deutschen Jagdflugzeugen attackiert. An beiden Tragflächen brachen Brände aus. Beiden Piloten konnten die Maschine kurz stabil halten. Diesen Moment nutzte die gesamte Besatzung, um abzuspringen. Danach glitt das Flugzeug langsam zu Boden und explodierte rund 50 km nördlich von dem Punkt, an dem die Besatzung abgesprungen war. Die Trümmer waren über eine Fläche von 1 km² verteilt.
Map of related places
The Crew
| Name | Rank | Function | Destiny |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bell, Thomas H. | S/Sgt | Gunner 4 | Rtd |
| Dean, George O. | T/Sgt | Gunner 6 | Rtd |
| Gower, Richard L. | 2nd Lt | Co-Pilot | Rtd |
| Letters, Karl J. | S/Sgt | Gunner 2 | Rtd |
| Mayer, Samuel P. | 1st Lt | Navigator | Rtd |
| Peters, Joseph A. | S/Sgt | Gunner 5 | Rtd |
| Peterson, Robert T. | S/Sgt | Gunner 3 | Rtd |
| Sussman, Herman | T/Sgt | Gunner 1 | Rtd |
| Thalken, John W. | Capt | Pilot | Rtd |
| Williams, William C. | 2nd Lt | Bombardier | Rtd |
How to cite
DAACDA – Downed Allied Air Crew Database Austria, edited by Nicole-Melanie Goll, Georg Hoffmann and Peter Andorfer, Vienna 2025 (https://daacda.acdh.oeaw.ac.at/a-00034.html)