The Lady Be Good
A wartime bomber vanished on its way home in 1943. Oil explorers found it 15 years later, deep in the Libyan desert.
What was reported
On the night of 4 April 1943, the B-24 bomber Lady Be Good, returning from a raid on Naples, flew past its base on the Libyan coast in the dark and carried on far out over the desert until its fuel ran out. Its crew bailed out.
In 1958 a British oil exploration team spotted the wreck in the Calanscio Sand Sea, about 700 km inland, remarkably intact, with water still in a flask. Searches later found the crew's diaries, which showed they had walked north for days.
Explanations offered
The crew seem to have misread their position and believed they hadn't yet reached the coast. The dry desert preserved the plane, which made the story famous; parts of it are now in a museum. It's a story of a navigation error, not a mystery.
- When
- Lost 4 April 1943
- Where
- Libyan Desert, Libya
- Witnesses
- Oil explorers who found the wreck
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.