Ernest Beecham
La Verne, Calif.

Stratoliner Prototype Crash
C.V. Glines’ story on the Boeing Stratoliner in the January issue brought back vivid memories of my youth. I was 13 and a freshman in high school when the prototype 307 crashed near Alder, Wash., on March 18, 1939. The disaster attracted a lot of onlookers.

My father and uncle took me up to see the wreckage, and I took the enclosed photo (above) that day. I remember noticing that the wings were a considerable distance from the broken fuselage, giving the impression that the plane had broken up in the air but had landed in a flat position.

When the restored 307—which is now in the Smithsonian—ditched in Seattle’s Elliott Bay, the entire event was captured on footage later shown on local TV news programs. It happened nearly 63 years to the day after the crash at Alder.
Major Robert W. Meyer

U.S. Air Force (ret.)
Belfair, Wash.

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