Pacific Wrecks

Missing In Action (MIA)

Prisoners Of War (POW)

Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)

Chronology

P-39 Airacobra Serial Number ?

USAAF
5th AF
35th FG
41st FS

Pilot Lt. Keating (survived)
Crashed April 12, 1943
MACR none

Aircraft History
Built by Bell in Buffalo, New York. Delivered to the U.S. Army, serial number unknown. Disassembled and shipped overseas and reassembled.

Wartime History
Assigned to the 5th Air Force, 35th Fighter Group, 41st Fighter Squadron. No known nose art or nickname.

Mission History
On April 12, 1943 took off from Port Moresby to intercept incoming Japanese aircraft. Shot down, Keating successfully bailed out and landed unhurt.

Fate of the Pilot
Keating later returned to his squadron.

References
41st Fighter Squadron History
Last Major Japanese Air Raid Over Port Moresby Operation I-Go: April 12, 1943

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Last Updated
February 18, 2020

P-39

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