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WWII Plane Found Under Beach
65 years after crash, plane uncovered on Welsh coast
By Jason Farago
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Posted Nov 15, 07 8:05 AM CST
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(Newser)
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Sixty-five years after its crash landing, a World War II fighter plane has emerged from under the sand on the Welsh coast. The American P-38 "Lightning" fighter, which made an emergency "belly landing" in shallow water after it ran out of fuel, was buried in the sand, with tourists oblivious to its existence, until uncommon weather this past summer eroded the beach above it, the AP reports.
The P-38 is a rare Lockheed twin-boom design: of the 10,000 built in the late 1930s, only about 32 remain in complete or partial condition. This one was flown by 24-year-old Fred Elliott, who walked away unhurt from the landing, but was shot down less than 3 months later over Tunisia. An aircraft recovery association is now teaming up with British museums to salvage the plane and restore it to its former glory.