#Radio silence human fall flat serial#

The crew of 11 were part of Project 8, the most highly classified section of the 46th. A kee bird is-at least according to soldiers stationed in Canada and Alaska-an ugly and unintelligent bird that spends its winters in the Arctic calling out “Kee-kee-kee-rist, it’s cold!” Assigned to the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron, Kee Bird stands ready for takeoff on a mission from Alaska’s Ladd Field.

#Radio silence human fall flat serial#

The B-29 making the flight (an F-13 variant modified for photoreconnaissance), serial No. On February 20, 1947, at 2:20 in the afternoon, one of those more or less routine flights took off from Ladd Field. On more than one occasion, the Soviets scrambled fighters in response. The 46th had its fair share of more exciting routes, such as those that ran along the Arctic coast of Siberia, where crews were instructed to keep their planes just within international airspace and monitor Soviet radar to see how well they could detect U.S. By the following year, polar overflights had become almost routine. The 46th flew its first mission from Ladd Field in August 1946, and on October 16, a B-29 took off from Ladd and flew over the North Pole for the first time. The United States was also racing to map the Arctic and perfect methods of navigating in polar regions. Operating from Ladd Field, the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron was tasked with investigating Soviet offensive and defensive capabilities in northern Siberia. The Cold War had begun in earnest less than a year after the end of World War II. It was shortly after midnight local time on Sunday, February 23, 1947, and Leader and the rest of the crew were in the middle of what turned out to be a rather long weekend.

Robert Leader, whose Boeing B-29 Superfortress had just belly-landed on a frozen lake about 700 miles from the North Pole. “We came down to shoot a few polar bears,” replied radio operator Tech. “What are you guys doing in Greenland?” asked a radio operator at Ladd Field near Fairbanks, Alaska. When a B-29 Crew Got Lost and Landed on a Frozen Greenland Lake Close