Us Official Photographs

B-24 Liberator explodes on home runway

This graphic picture of tragedy on the home runway after an otherwise successful mission was snapped two minutes after this Consolidated B-24 Liberator exploded. Returning from a mission to the Moosebierbaum oil refinery near Vienna, Austria, the plane's wheels had just touched the ground on an apparently normal landing when a 500 pound bomb, which had stuck in the racks, jarred loose from its shackles and exploded beneath it. At the time the picture was taken, exploding ammunition and the threat of further explosion, had kept firemen and rescue crews away. Date 7-1-47 AC/AS, Intelligence Wing A.A.F.