Crashed WWII fighter plane recovered from Lake Michigan
Worldwide, Daily news | ankakh | December 8, 2012 18:30
On Dec. 28, 1944, a FM-2 “Wildcat” Fighter aircraft crashed and sank during a training mission in Waukegan Harbor, NBCChicago.com reported. Engine failure was blamed, and the plane was left in about 200 feet of water, according to NBCChicago.com.
Friday’s recovery, which had an audience of nearly 100, was the first milestone toward getting the plane restored and eventually in a museum, the Chicago Tribune reported. A 78-year-old pilot from Mettawa, Ill. paid for the recovery, according to the newspaper.
The “Wildcat” aircraft was one of the planes used to train Navy pilots during World War II, and they’d practice flying from the naval air station and from aircraft carriers, the Daily Herald in suburban Chicago reported. During the war, over 17,000 pilots trained over Lake Michigan, according to Rockford, Ill. NBC affiliate WREX.
“This thing would’ve been a piece of junk,” Greenhill told the Daily Herald. “Instead, it will become a piece of history that people will be able to see and appreciate.”
The recovery happened on a day of related significance: Friday was the 71st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which claimed thousands of lives and launched the United States into World War II,according to The Associated Press.
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