U.S seeks help on finding WWII crashed plane

TIRANA, March 18 – The U.S embassy in Tirana says it is looking for parts of a WWII plane that is believed to have crashed near the central Albanian region of Elbasan during an Ally mission against the Axis powers. In a post on its Facebook page, the embassy seeks help to find parts of the crashed plane which would help locate the remains of the dead pilot.
In January 1944, during an Ally mission against the Axis powers, an American B-24 Liberator based in Italy took off for a mission in Sofia, Bulgaria, but sustained heavy damage over Skopje from Axis ground fire. The plane turned around, trying valiantly to return to its base, flying over the Elbasan region of Albania en route to Italy. Shortly after passing the city of Elbasan, two of the plane’s four engines sputtered and died. In an act of selfless heroism, the pilot of plane stayed at the controls, giving the remaining crew members time to parachute out of the falling airplane. The surviving crew were quickly captured by German forces and retained as prisoners of war. None of the crew members saw what happened to the plane or heard a crash; that was the last they saw of their pilot, and the plane and pilot are still missing today.
“Every part of this plane had a unique identification number. If we can find part of the aircraft, we might be able to locate our missing pilot’s remains and return him to his family for proper burial. If you or anyone you know have any information about this airplane or any possible WWII-era plane crashes in Albania, please let us know and send us any information or photos you might have via Facebook message,” says the embassy.