Northeast Whitewater is offering a guided informative tour to the B52 Plane Crash Site on Elephant Mountain. The road to the crash site is rough and one that visitors are finding difficult to navigate in their own vehicles. This is so much more than a guided activity though. Northeast Whitewater has put together a short video with first hand encounters around that fateful day. Upon check-in at Northeast Whitewater, we will set the scene by watching a short video presentation. Our guided B52 crash site tour is 3 hours departing 2 times a week from our Northeast Whitewater location in Shirley, Maine.
On January 24, 1963 a United States Air Force Boeing B-52C Stratofortress with nine crew members on board lost its vertical stabilizer due to turbulence at low altitude and crashed on Elephant Mountain in Piscataquis County, Maine, six miles east of Moosehead Lake and the Town of Greenville, killing seven crew members. The pilot (Lt. Col. Dante Bulli) and the navigator (Gerald Adler) survived the crash. Bulli and Adler survived the night, suffering temperatures dipping to -28 degrees Fahrenheit and five feet of snow, before they were rescued.
After the plane crash site was located the next day, Scott Paper Company dispatched plows from Greenville to clear 10 miles of road of snow drifts up to 15 feet deep. The rescuers had to use snowshoes, dog sleds and snowmobiles to cover the remaining mile to the crash site. At 11 a.m. the two survivors were airlifted to a hospital by a helicopter.
The B-52 had a wingspan of 185 feet and was 160 feet long from head to tail. Along the short woodland trail to the crash site, pieces of the plane are scattered on the forest floor, and some pieces are in the limbs of trees. Twisted metal, shredded wheels, rusted machinery components, wires and the partially intact tail cone are among the wreckage.
Join Northeast Whitewater for an informative guided history tour of the B52 Crash Site located near Moosehead Lake! This activity is suitable for all ages.
Pricing
FAQs
- B 52 Crash Site Tours are offered two times per week throughout the summer or call to inquire about a private tour! Book now with our weekly schedule offered Sunday’s and Thursday’s from 1-4 PM.
- All safety equipment, transportation, and Registered Maine Guide on every B 52 Crash Site Tour.
- No experience necessary.
- Children under 10 years of age are only $29 (must be accompanied by an adult, maximum number of 2 children at the $29 discount rate.)
- Minimum 5 participants on guided trips or join an existing trip. Private B 52 Crash Site Tours are available upon request and first come, first served.
- We pride ourselves on small, personalized trips.
