AI Image
WWII fighter plane crash found in Hungary after nearly 80 years
Yahoo • • world
Key Points:
- Historians in Hungary have located a missing Soviet Yakovlev Yak-1 fighter plane, downed in November 1944 by German ace pilot Peter Düttmann, after nearly 82 years of searching.
- The aircraft was found buried over 17 feet underground about 50 miles southeast of Budapest, with some fabric covering and the pilot's personal items still recoverable despite the plane's poor condition.
- Soviet Guards Lieutenant Alexander Semyonovich Andrianov, the pilot, ejected and was taken prisoner of war, though his ultimate fate remains unclear.
- Researchers used a block lifting recovery method, carefully excavating earth in layers to preserve and identify wreckage, including the engine serial number confirming the plane's identity.
- Restorers plan to reconstruct many parts of the Yak-1, with preserved sections to be displayed at Budapest's Military History Museum while the remainder is archived.
