A sight similar to this greeted Hellewell and his crew, when they first spotted the B-24.
Photograph courtesy of the United States Air Force.
Broken in half, wings intact, there seemed to be a quiet dignity about the wrecked bomber. Practical concerns, like a dwindling fuel supply, however, overrode the Silver City crew's reverie. They noted the crashed B-24's position and then headed back to Concession 37.
Since the American markings were still visible on the B-24, a Silver City Airway's employee paid a visit to Wheelus Air Force Base- an American base that was near Tripoli. There, the duty officer dismissed the B-24 sighting, stating that it couldn't be an American airplane, since the U.S. Air Force hadn't operated B-24's since 1947. Why it didn't occur to this officer that the B-24 probably crashed prior to 1947, is a mystery. In fairness, though, very few American wrecks had been sighted as far south as this one. So, the staff at Wheelus took no action.
Further, some oil explorers had discovered some cave drawings, roughly two hundred miles south east of Kufra. In the excitement, the mysterious B-24 was largely forgotten.
Or, so it seemed.
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