The Best Landing Ever?

As the old adage goes, any landing you can walk away from is a good one. But one landing has to the best. Here's a candidate: On December 7, 1941, an Army B-17 flying over the Pacific was hit by strafing from Japanese Zeroes.

The flare box caught fire, filling the fuselage with smoke. The captain, Raymond T. Swenson of California, tried to hide in clouds. But the smoke proved overwhelming.

Swenson tried to fly to Oahu, Hawaii, making it as far as Hickam Field. Where this happened:

Weakened by the fire, the bomber broke apart while landing. Landing without further injury to captain and crew, however!

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