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B-29 Superfortress Wreckage from Cold War Captured in Recent Photo

** B-29 Superfortress Kee Bird** NASA
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Key Takeaways:

  • NASA's P-3 Orion recently photographed the wreckage of Kee Bird, a B-29 Superfortress that crash-landed on a Greenland ice sheet in February 1947 during a Cold War spy mission.
  • The image was captured during a flight for Operation IceBridge, a program that monitors Earth's ice, with Kee Bird's location being a common sight during these scientific aerial missions.
  • All 11 crewmembers survived the initial 1947 crash, but the aircraft remains partially submerged today after a 1990s recovery attempt was abandoned when the plane caught fire during restoration.
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A recent photo captured by NASA’s P-3 Orion shows the remains of Kee Bird, a B-29 Superfortress that crash landed on a Greenland ice sheet in February 1947 during a Cold War spy mission gone awry.

The new image was taken during a flight for Operation IceBridge, a program that records changes in the Earth’s ice over time. NASA researcher John Sonntag says Kee Bird’s resting place between Humboldt and Petermann Glaciers, two key study locations, makes it a common sight during scientific aerial missions in the area.

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