Tornado Damages National Museum of U.S. Air Force’s Restoration Hangar

The storage hangar is one of three WWII-era structures located on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Thursday, February 29, 2024 at 02:33 PM ET

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The damaged facility—known as Restoration Hangar 4—is one of three historic buildings in Area B of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. [Credit: U.S. Air Force]

Key Takeaways:

An EF1 tornado struck Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, damaging a historic World War II hangar and several other buildings.
The damaged facility, Restoration Hangar 4, is part of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and housed aircraft and artifacts undergoing restoration, some of which sustained minor damage from flying debris.
The hangar holds significant historical value, having been built during WWII and used for modifying B-29s for atomic missions, though the museum's public area was not damaged.

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A historic World War II hangar belonging to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and several other buildings at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, were damaged by a tornado, according to the U.S. Air Force.

The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed that around 4:37 a.m. EST, an EF1 tornado first developed in Montgomery County, south of the air base near Dayton. In neighboring Greene County, where Wright-Patterson AFB is located, high winds ripped sheet metal off the hangar used by the museum for restoration.