B-24 "Liberator" on Mission Ridge - Plane Crash Sites on Waymarking.com

Long Description:
The wing of the bomber is actually mounted at this spot, with a plaque that describes what happened. If you look around, especially up the ski run, you can find bits and pieces of the wreck. Some of it has been moved so that there is less danger to skiers.

It is reached by skiing down from the top of Chair 2 at Mission ridge Ski Area, and going down the ski run "Bomber Bowl". It can also be hiked to in the summer. There is also a cache here, GCC532.

This is what is written on the plaque:

“On a stormy night of September 30, 1944, Flight Crew 22, on a training mission from Walla Walla Army Air Base, found itself off course and lost above the rugged Cascade Mountain Range. They were flying a B – 24 “Liberator” Heavy Bomber. The night was rainy and the valley was enshrouded with heavy fog. Around 8:00 p.m. the Beehive Lookout reported Hearing the drone of a planes engines as it passed directly overhead. Within moments a fire was seen faintly illuminating the fog, alerting the lookout that the plane had probably crashed. Due to the darkness, weather. And terrain, search efforts were delayed. The next morning when a rescue party reached this rocky bowl, just 500 feet below the crest of Mission Ridge, they found the flames had been extinguished by the heavy rainfall from the previous night. Pieces of the wreckage were strewn hundreds of yards across the slope and the bodies of all six crew members were found. There were no survivors. - USFS, Vets of Foreign Wars of the U.S., Mission Ridge, Boy Scout Troop 5"

Date of Crash: 09/30/1944 Aircraft Model: B-24 Military or Civilian: Military Cause of Crash: Weather and darkness. Web Address for Related Web Sites: Not listed Tail Number: Not listed

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