1944 Örnahusen B-17 Flying Fortress crash
United States Army Air Forces Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress · Emergency water landing of a damaged U.S. B-17 bomber off the coast of Sweden during WWII
From RAF Bassingbourn, England to England (return from bombing mission)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 3 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 6
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress
- Aircraft type
- Boeing B-17
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 42-107178
- Operator
- United States Army Air Forces
- Onboard fatalities
- 3
- Route
- From RAF Bassingbourn, EnglandTo England (return from bombing mission)
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1944 Örnahusen Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress crash occurred on 24 May 1944, when a U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortress bomber of the 91st Bombardment Group was hit after a bombing mission over Germany during World War II. Flying to Sweden, it crashed into the Baltic Sea off the coast of Örnahusen, Sweden.
The crash site has become a small historical landmark, including a memorial.
Crash
Around midday, the aircraft reached the southeastern coast of Sweden, near Ystad. The Swedish military had perceived the damaged aircraft as a threat and fired at it. The aircraft circled for a time around Skillinge and Simrishamn before three of the remaining crew members bailed out near Simrishamn. Two of them survived, but one drowned.
The plane then turned south, and two more crew members jumped out of the aircraft. One was rescued, while the other drowned after being swept out to sea by strong winds.
2nd Lt. Fredric T. Neel Jr. remained onboard and attempted an emergency water landing near Örnahusen. He maneuvered the aircraft away from homes and a nearby school, likely saving lives on the ground. However, the plane stalled at a low altitude and crashed hard into the sea approximately 50–100 meters offshore. The aircraft broke apart, exploded and sank. Neel was killed.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1944 Örnahusen B-17 Flying Fortress crash” (revision 1344185613, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1944 Örnahusen B-17 Flying Fortress crash
- Revision
- 1344185613 · 2026-03-18 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q10432018
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1944 Örnahusen B-17 Flying Fortress crash" (page 80057454, revision 1344185613)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.