Seattle wa military tanks museum8/22/2023 Downe just made it to the runway for a gear-up landing. When he finally started his approach, the number one engine began to fail. Concerned about what would become of the load of snakes and alligators, Downe made the tower aware of his dangerous cargo. He had his co-pilot bail out and he landed in a tree, unharmed. Downe advised the tower of their problems and circled the field for a while to burn off fuel. Approaching Lunken Field, the number two engine developed trouble and had to be shut down and the crew soon realized that the landing gear would not lower. In the back was a collection of exotic animals, including snakes and alligators. He had three B-25s that would travel around the country giving wild life displays, which is why the flight was heading to Cincinnati. Arthur Jones, the owner of the plane, operated a zoo in Slidell, Louisiana. The cargo in this B-25, however, was not a typical load. They were often operated on a shoestring, with iffy maintenance and minimal crew training. It was typical of the numerous fly-by-night cargo carriers that took advantage of WW-II surplus planes which were cheap to buy. This wasn’t a military mission in a well-maintained B-25, or a flight in a totally restored museum piece, rather it was a cargo flight in a ratty old plane that had been made surplus in 1958. On February 20th, 1963, Leonard Downe, and his co-pilot, Roy Hurst, were flying a B-25 Mitchell from Louisiana to Cincinnati’s Lunken airport.
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