Bradley Beam

DF BRINGS 'EM IN

How radio direction finding stations brought in a B-17 and its crew of 10 lost over the Atlantic was told in a special report from Army Flight Control at Jacksonville.

The bomber, on a night navigation mission from MacDill Field, was caught in bad weather and became lost far out over the ocean. Pilot and navigator believed they were over the Gulf of Mexico and were headed east, trying to pick up the west coast of Florida.

MacDill requested Jacksonville to coordinate DF facilities in an effort to bring in the ship. Federal Communications Commission was contacted and it placed the Powder Springs, Ga., DF station on the trail of the lost bomber. Meanwhile, MacDill had instructed the B-17 to continue signaling for the benefit of the DF's. Navy's Jacksonville DF station also got a fix on the plane.

The plane was 300 miles east of Jacksonville and headed for Europe. The pilot was given a new heading to get him back to Jacksonville. However, Flight Control realized that his fuel would be exhausted soon. A special pilot balloon observation was taken and most favorable altitudes and wind conditions were relayed to the pilot.
High winds from the north continued to blow the bomber south. As the plane neared the coast, airfields were requested to turn on lights and crash crews were alerted in case the plan ran out of fuel before reaching land.

Finally, Jacksonville operations received a call from the pilot reporting that he had made a wheels-up landing on a small airport under construction at Bunnell, Fla. Warning lights were on for all tanks, but he had just enough gas to make his approach. No one was injured.