>> NARRATOR: Today on<i> Mega</i> <i>Movers...</i> >> Dive it! >> Cannot see anything. >> Yeah, you can't. >> That's not good. >> NARRATOR: An epic move to raise a historic B-25 bomber from the bottom of a South Carolina lake. >> Whoa! >> NARRATOR: In the heart of South Carolina, Lake Murray lies just ten miles west of Columbia. Today, it's popular among sports fishermen and recreational boaters. But during World War II, it was used for a very different purpose-- the training of B-25 flight crews-- young pilots, navigators and bombardiers, many of them just out of high school. Among the most famous and legendary aircraft of World War II, the B-25 bombers flew in every theater of the war. Lunch Island, in the middle of Lake Murray, was used extensively for target practice, and became known as Bomb Island. On April 4, 1943, on a routine training mission, a B-25 crashed into Lake Murray. >> We looked across the lake, and we saw two airplanes. Well, one went on towards Lexington, and we didn't hear the... the other one, or see it right at the time, but all at once, it was a splash. >> NARRATOR: All five crew members survived, but the plane sank to the bottom and was lost. 50 years later, in March 1993, resting under layers of silt at the bottom of the lake, the B-25 was found 150 feet below the surface by Navy sonar operators on a training exercise. For Dr. Bob Seigler, a Columbia, South Carolina, native, the discovery reignited a childhood passion. >> Well, I read a book about Lake Murray. There was a chapter in the book that talked about the B-25 bombers that used the islands there for practice. About 1989 or so, I decided to research it from a historical perspective to see if I could resolve the issue of exactly how many crashed in the lake. What we found out is that there were seven aviation incidents at Lake Murray. We came to conclude by the early '90s that there was probably one left. >> NARRATOR: Bob organized a series of dives to inspect the aircraft. Much to his pleasant surprise, the B-25 was discovered to be an extremely rare C model. >> There are only three C models in the world. Pretty-pretty rare aircraft. >> NARRATOR: The B-25 C was considered a much improved model, boasting more powerful engines and increased armament. >> We know that the right engine came off when it hit the water. The right engine had power when it hit the water, so the fact that the propeller was turning rapidly torqued the engine off. >> NARRATOR: Bob immediately purchased the salvage rights from the government, in hopes of raising the B-25 and donating it to a museum. >> Some of the Plexiglas in the nose is broken out, and probably the bottom is dented in pretty badly, but we can't see the bottom until we raise it. It's very muddy. >> NARRATOR: But the preliminary dive showed that the plane is in remarkably good condition. >> The fact that it's in freshwater's good. The fact that it's deep, 150 feet, means that there's relatively little oxygen, therefore relatively little corrosion. Most sport divers don't dive that deep, so it hadn't been vandalized. There's a top turret with two machine guns, the paint is intact, the stars on the wings and the stars on the fuselage. The tail number's bright yellow, and the star is, uh, blue and white, easily identifiable. >> NARRATOR: Determined to rescue the ten-ton aircraft from the muck of Lake Murray, Bob called in legendary aircraft recovery expert Gary Larkins of Air Pirates to oversee the move. Since the 1970s, Gary has headed up the recovery of 68 historic aircraft. Gary is hoping to make the B-25 number 69. In a nearby hangar at Columbia Owens Downtown Airport, Gary uses a surviving B-25 to illustrate for Bob his plan of attack. >> The B-25 C that's on the bottom of Lake Murray, the silt is up to about... here. So it's buried. There's quite a bit of it buried, maybe two feet of it buried in the silt. The right wing is actually just a little bit higher than the left wing, and that could be because the right engine's missing. And the left side is sunk in the mud just a little bit more 'cause of the weight of the engine. So in order to get it rigged, we're gonna do it by passing a line down through and dragging a strap back through and rig it to the spreader bar. Then the front of the strap will be brought up and hooked to the front of the spreader bar, and that'll have the aircraft cradled. And that's what protects the structure of the aircraft. In other words, it won't allow the straps to come in and crush, you know, in the leading edge or the trailing edge. It'll keep it spread to the spreader bar. >> NARRATOR: Gary owned and completely restored a similar B-25 J model in the 1970s. He knows this plane, inside and out. >> So, this is the strongest point of the aircraft right here-- it's a box section with a front and rear spar. This is the beefiest part of the airplane, and that's where we ought to rig it from. >> On the C model, there was a bottom turret that had two machine guns. And I've been told that if it does, that would be the only bottom turret from a B-25 still in existence. >> NARRATOR: In addition to bringing up the plane, Bob and Gary are also hoping to find personal artifacts belonging to the crew of the downed aircraft. ♪ ♪ It's day one of the project to try to move the World War II bomber off the bottom of Lake Murray. The crew begins by setting ten interlocking barges into the water and assembling them into one large barge platform. >> So, it all pins together and makes one complete barge. It's just sections. That section there is seven and a half feet by 15. And then the other sections will be seven and a half by 30. Basically, it's a steel box with a structure frame inside. >> NARRATOR: The smaller barge sections each weigh 10,000 pounds, the larger sections, 15,000 pounds. >> Hold it! We gonna take this one over to the side, out of the way, 'cause it'll be about the fifth piece we need to hook together. Slow, nice and easy. >> NARRATOR: The crew sets the barges one by one into the lake, floats them into position, and locks them together. >> And the ball goes in the hole, and when it goes in the hole... All right, take the hammer, and tap one down. >> NARRATOR: By late afternoon, the barge platform and the center courtyard begin to take shape. >> The plane, it's gonna be on the barge, just like you see it here. The wingspan will be from that barge to that barge, long ways with it. Basically, two A-frame booms that goes across the hold for the winches to go straight down to hook to your wing section. So we wanted to be able to come up and level it up, and then bring it up, like this. >> NARRATOR: Now they load the recovery platform with equipment: a steel frame, a port-o-john, air compressors, welding equipment, and most importantly, two air tugger winches, which will be used to lift the aircraft. >> That's a air tugger, which is a air-driven winch. To keep away from hydraulic lines busting and polluting the water, we went with the air tuggers. If you had a hydraulic unit and you blew a hose, you could pump 30 or 40 gallons of hydraulic fluid before you even get the motor cut off and pollute the lake. The Ingersoll Rand is a 750- cubic-inch air compressor. So it'll keep 750 cubic inches of air to the air tugger to make it operate correctly and to its maximum. >> NARRATOR: In addition, the crew loads four concrete road barricades, which will be lowered into the water to anchor each corner of the barge. >> You got it, Richard? >> Got it, let it come up. >> That's good, set it there. (mutters) Wait, hold on a second, hold on. We ain't going off center or something. Right there. Move it toward you, Richard. Move it toward you. (mutters) I'm excited about it. I say trying to look at it as a job, make sure we dot our I's and cross our T's, so that we do everything correctly, but when it's up on the ground, then I'll be very excited. >> NARRATOR: Bomb Island, South Carolina, 1943. A popular spot for inexperienced B-25 crews to practice their bombing runs. (bombs whistling) (explosion) >> Pilots would fly in a cloverleaf pattern, a counterclockwise cloverleaf pattern, and they would drop their bombs at very low altitude. >> NARRATOR: But before the crew of the Lake Murray B-25 could make their bombing run, their left engine died. (bombs whistling) They jettisoned their bombs and plunged into the lake. (engine whining) (rumbling) Henry Mascall was the bombardier instructor on board the bomber. His main concern was for the young pilot. >> You don't want the young pilot to lose confidence, so you keep talking to that person, although you don't have much time. >> When they hit the water, it hit... He said the pilot made a very good landing, you know, emergency landing. But when they hit the water, they hit with a real jolt. >> And I said, "Oh, (bleep), Gino, we're in trouble." >> NARRATOR: As the plane began to sink, all five crew members exited through an escape hatch and were rescued by a local fisherman. Today, Gary Larkins heads up a team of divers that are taking what they hope to be the first steps in raising the ten-ton bomber to the surface and moving it to the shore. >> Well, what they need to do is put a buoy on it so that we can find it. >> NARRATOR: Once that's completed, the floating barge will be positioned and oriented directly above the plane, using buoys as reference points. >> ...Bryce down to get the line. (indistinct chatter) >> NARRATOR: Chris Elmore is among the divers assembled for this very difficult and dangerous move. >> The primary thing of this is to get the float as close to the nose of the aircraft as you can, and then, if you can get a float on the tail, and come home safe. >> NARRATOR: It will take two minutes for the three divers to descend 140 feet to the top of the propeller. The left engine is not far from the nose of the plane, but just getting there is tricky. >> You lose all ambient light at about 30 feet. Uh, below that, there's... you can't even see a glow. There's nothing. It's just black. >> NARRATOR: The divers use high-intensity discharge lights to see anything at all. >> If you've seen the blue headlights that some cars have, it's the same technology, so it shoots pretty far. >> NARRATOR: When the silt at the bottom of the lake gets stirred up, it creates a thick, murky cloud of dust that scatters the light. >> The visibility on the plane itself is absolutely nonexistent. Uh, I was literally diving by feel. I saw the prop and a little piece of metal, and I was literally trying to feel my way to the fuselage, and the silt got too deep. I couldn't feel metal anymore, and at that point, I had completely lost Barney and Joe, so... I called it. >> NARRATOR: One hour later, the other two divers surface. >> Joe! Where'd you go? >> You were right there, and next thing I know, you were gone. >> NARRATOR: But ultimately, the mission of the dive was accomplished. Buoys now mark the tail and nose of this remarkable airplane, a plane that had such a storied history in the Second World War. The B-25 Mitchell was one of the most successful bombers of World War II. It saw action in every theater of combat. The Mitchell was a product of North American Aviation, which today is owned by Boeing. The bomber was powered by two right R-2600 turbo supercharged radial engines, delivering 1700 horsepower each. The R-2600 series would become standard on all successive versions of the B-25. As the war grew, the C model, like the one at the bottom of Lake Murray, was upgraded, armed with six .50 caliber machineguns, and could deliver a maximum bomb load of 5,200 pounds. However, the B-25 proved ineffective at striking enemy ships from high altitude. General Kenney, commander of the Fifth Air Force, tried a bold experiment-- skip bombing. B-25 pilots would skim the water's surface. When they came within 300 yards of its target, the pilot would release the bombs. Like an airborne torpedo, the bombs would skip across the water and slam into the enemy ships. (explosion) It was murderously effective. In addition to skip bombing, it was used for medium-altitude bombing, strafing, transportation, photo reconnaissance, anti-submarine patrols and training. That afternoon, the barge arrives, and the crew begins lowering the cement anchors into the water. Once they are all in position, the cables are tightened to center the barge directly above the B-25. The next team of divers submerges. Their mission-- start raking the plane. Divers will have to run two polypropylene lines under both of the wings. >> This is a very technical dive, and the depth is 150 foot, which is well beyond recreational limits. At that depth, you do encounter some nitrogen narcosis, and it impairs your thinking and your mobility skills to some degree. And so, in order to prevent that, we are adding helium to replace a portion of the nitrogen. >> NARRATOR: For an hour and a half, the divers struggle to get a line under each of the wings. But visibility is so bad, the job proves to be futile. >> There's easily a foot of silt on top of everything, and if you touch it, the visibility drops to less than a foot. I mean, I couldn't see the light on the end of my own hand. >> NARRATOR: For the next two days, divers go down, but the results are the same. >> After five attempts, we were unable to find the right wing. It's just, there's no visibility. Joe and I were literally just running in to each other. There's... You can not see anything. >> Yeah, you can't. >> NARRATOR: But by the end of the third day, the divers finally report the first signs of progress on the lake bed. >> Hold up, here just a second. Chris has got something really important to tell you. >> I got a polypro under the wing. >> You didn't? >> I did. Oh! >> Are you pulling my leg? >> Nope. Really. >> NARRATOR: With a line under one wing, the next team of divers is able to attach the lifting strap and pull it into position. By afternoon, straps are positioned beneath both wings. >> These two straps will support about 60,000 pounds, and the aircraft shouldn't weigh... Actually, it shouldn't weigh more than about 22,000 pounds, but we... we're good to go for 60, so we got plenty of overkill. >> We're ready for a little bit of good news. Everybody smiling. >> Bryce, should we tell him the other good news? >> NARRATOR: To celebrate, the crew has prepared a little test run just for fun. (laughter) >> There she blows! (laughter) >> NARRATOR: Next on<i> Mega</i> >> NARRATOR: Lake Murray, South Carolina. Divers have been working for five days to rig the B-25 plane that rests at the bottom of the lake, 150 feet below the surface. While the B-25 Mitchell has a long and rich history, it's probably best known for two particular incidents. The most famous B-25 mission of World War II was the Doolittle Raid. On the morning of April 18, 1942, 16 B-25s led by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, took off from the USS<i> Hornet</i> and headed toward Tokyo, more than 600 miles away. Each of Doolittle's B-25s had been modified with three extra fuel tanks. Since the B-25s could take off from an aircraft carrier, but not land on one, as the runway is way too short for such a large aircraft, they needed the extra fuel to reach friendly bases in China. (bombs whistling) The Doolittle Raiders caught the Japanese completely by surprise. (explosions) Although the raid inflicted relatively minor damage, it was a huge morale boost for the United States, which was still recovering from the shock of Pearl Harbor. The most well-known incident involving a B-25 occurred not in battle, but in the heart of midtown Manhattan. On July 28, 1945, a B-25 on its way to Newark Airport got lost in the fog. The pilot successfully dodged several buildings, but could not avoid the tallest, the 1,250-foot tall Empire State Building. The B-25 slammed into the 79th floor. The pilot and his two crew members were killed instantly. One of the engines was found atop a nearby 12-story building. The other engine ended up in an elevator shaft of the Empire State Building, plunging 79 floors to the basement. The crash killed 11 office workers and left a gaping hole in the building, 18 feet wide and 20 feet high. The total cost of repair-- one million dollars. The Empire State Building's rugged construction of steel, limestone, brick and marble helped it withstand the impact of the plane. It was also fortunate that the B-25 was not loaded with bombs. >> She's checking the hurricane conditions. >> NARRATOR:<i> Ophelia,</i> a category one hurricane, packing winds of 85 miles per hour, is heading directly for the Carolinas. Winds have already started rocking the barge and threatening to push it off its mark, directly above the plane. >> Which means that we're concerned that, uh, we're actually gonna get chased off the barge tonight by the wind. You don't want to be in the middle of the lake on a barge in high winds. >> NARRATOR: But until those high winds make landfall, and the crew is forced to evacuate, their work continues. Before the B-25 can be winched from the lake bed, two steel spreader bars must be lowered down above the plane and attached to a lift strap below each wing. >> The spreader bars will lay on top of the wing, for the time being, while they're being hooked up. We'll use the winches to lower them down and get them right over the top of the airplane, and then, the divers will have to maneuver them into position, with the winch holding the weight of the spreader bars just above the aircraft. >> Ouch. >> Did that hurt? >> NARRATOR: It's a delicate operation. These 400-pound steel spreader bars could easily damage the aircraft. It will not be easy for divers to maneuver them underwater. The crew lowers the first spreader bar. Because they won't be able to communicate with the winch operators on the barge, divers will use a buoy to signal when the spreader bar is in position above the wing. >> All right, if it's straight up, that means down. If it lays down, that means the spreader bar should be right at the top of the fuselage, maybe down a little bit on the wing. >> NARRATOR: The divers guide the first spreader bar into position with relative ease above the plane. On the surface, the buoys lie flat, signaling the first one is in position. Now, the second bar. But increasing winds and stronger currents in the lake are beginning to cause a problem. >> The winds from the hurricane were actually dragging one of the anchors toward the plane, which is a real concern. >> NARRATOR: The divers lose control, and the spreader bar slams into the plane. (metallic clanking) >> The spreader bar went through the cockpit... >> Aah! >> ...and was inside the cockpit and caught. >> Ouch. >> And we didn't have enough slack to get it out of the cockpit. When we got down there, it was into here. >> All right, well, I'll see if we can't get that repositioned and, hopefully, reshackle the front of it. Wish us luck. (laughs) >> NARRATOR: This dive is critical. If the 400-pound spreader bar can't be lifted out of the cockpit and placed in the correct position, the entire mission will be scrapped. On the barge, the crew waits for a signal. They learn that the hurricane has passed to the north. But there will be no celebration until the spreaders are in place. After 40 minutes, the buoy lies flat. The second bar is in position. Today, divers will attach the cables connecting the spreader bars to the air tuggers on the barge. Hour by hour, the crew waits for a sign that the B-25 has broken free of the thick sludge at the bottom of the lake. Nine hours pass. Nothing happens. The wait goes on through the night. >> What do you got? >> NARRATOR: Suddenly, after 16 hours of constant pressure on the cables, they see oil and hydraulic fluid bubble to the surface. (whirring) >> I'm good. >> NARRATOR: It's too dangerous for divers to be in the water while the B-25 is being lifted. If a diver should get caught in one of the tow ropes, or a section of the plane should shear off, triumph would quickly turn to tragedy. >> Five... ten... 15. >> NARRATOR: When the plane is raised to 15 feet off the lake bed, they go down to check the rigging. >> If we can get a depth reading on the left wingtip, and a depth reading on the right wingtip, we'll know where we're hanging. >> NARRATOR: One of the divers is shocked by what he hears. (creaking) Afraid the B-25 might shatter around them, the divers surface to report the tail section may be twisted and on the verge of breaking off. >> The plane is nose down like this, the tail is down like that. >> Yeah, this is tilted like that. Tail is back and twisted like that. It's-it's... >> That's no good. >> I mean, it's cracking right now. I mean, that's why I had to get away from it and come up right where I was. >> That's not good. >> That's loaded. The, uh, silt on this surface is this high. There's a mountain on top of it. >> That's got to come off of there. That's what's doing it. >> Okay. >> And all we can do is hope that we didn't, you know, bust her to where it's gonna come off. >> NARRATOR: Fearing they may have split the plane in half, the crew quickly lowers the plane back onto the lake bed. Divers are deployed to clean 60 years and thousands of pounds of silt and sediment. The job takes over three hours. >> They're working on it here. It's very tense. >> NARRATOR: The crew is now ready to attempt to lift it again. >> 20... 25... 30. >> NARRATOR: As the plane begins to rise off the lake bed, the barge crew will use lines with blue zip tie markings placed at one-foot intervals. One line is attached to the nose and the other to the tail, to make sure the plane's fuselage stays level. >> That's gonna be real dangerous if that tail comes off, and they're holding that rope. (speaking indistinctly) >> Wrap it around your hand. >> NARRATOR: This is critical. If the nose pitches upward or downward, the edge of the wings could rip the lifting straps or torque the fuselage out of its harness, sending the B-25 back to the bottom of the lake in pieces. The plane is off kilter. The front is at least 15 feet higher than the tail. Gary stops the hoist. >> He's not moving at all. >> I don't like that. >> That's what I've been talking about. You ain't even moving. He's going five feet at a time. >> Yeah. >> That's why he's at 25, and we're, like, at 15. >> I would really feel comfortable, guys, if we sent somebody on it to tell me how she's sitting right now. I got to know. >> Whoa! (whistles) >> NARRATOR: Coming up next... A piece of the aircraft breaks free and floats to the surface. Is the B-25 breaking up? (indistinct chatter) >> NARRATOR: It's been one week since Dr. Bob Seigler, with the help of recovery expert Gary Larkins, began their quest to raise a B-25 off the bottom of Lake Murray, South Carolina. Now, with the aircraft a mere 15 feet off the bottom... >> Oxygen tank! >> NARRATOR: ...it looks like the B-25 may be breaking up. >> That came out-- that's probably the hydraulic tank. Looks like. I'll know here in a second. >> NARRATOR: Gary decides to send two of his most experienced divers, George Carter and Rafed Tooma, back down to inspect the tail. >> Dive it now. >> Okay. >> NARRATOR: The silt makes visibility poor. Divers do much of their work by feel, slowly working their way around the plane, looking for signs of any other damage. With the B-25 literally hanging in the balance, Gary and the rest of the team hold their breath for the divers' report. >> Straps looked good. Everything connected around the harnesses looked good. Nose is still intact. She looked straight all the way back past the radar dome to the tail. She's on there. >> Sounds good. You get a cookie. (laughter) >> That is all very, very good news. We're off about three feet. That ain't too damn bad. >> NARRATOR: The rigging has checked out. What they discover is that the tail is not twisting off. It just seems that way because the aircraft is at an angle. The left wing is low because the engine is missing from the right wing. As night falls, the crew resumes the slow and careful process of raising the aircraft. At 10 feet an hour with periodic stops to make sure the plane is rising evenly the crew works through the night. A TV monitor is hooked up to an underwater camera so that the crew can look for any signs of trouble. >> I think it's looking good. >> This is exceeding my expectations by quite a bit. >> I want to see that bottom turret. >> NARRATOR: Slowly, the B-25 is pulled up closer and closer. At 4:00 a.m., the blocks finally break the surface. >> The nose is gonna come out first. >> NARRATOR: With the plane secured beneath the barge, they slowly make the two-mile trip back to shore. It stopped before the belly of the bomber scraped the rocky bottom and anchored in waters 15 feet deep. At daybreak, the crew on the barge gets their first chance to see the B-25 in daylight. >> She's a beauty. >> That's a good deal. >> Definitely. >> This one was very exciting because, you know, it was 3:30 in the morning. It'd been a long, long struggle. You can't say on this day, we're going to recover it, because you'll just screw up the airplane. It comes out when it's ready. And this one's ready, pretty, pretty close, so there's just a lot to do. >> NARRATOR: A 220-ton Liebherr truck crane is ready to make the lift on the bank. But first, to lighten the load, divers must remove the remaining tons of silt and mud from the cockpit and fuselage using an air dredge made from PVC pipe. It's then that the crew notices something ominous. A six-inch gap has opened up across the top of the fuselage. >> When it landed, the right engine came off, went into the side of the aircraft right behind the copilot's seat, sliced through to the main supports for the whole front of the aircraft, and in hitting the water, snapped the bolts-- a top row down about six inches on each side. If the bolts are rusted and weak, and we try to lift it out of the water like that, we could lose the whole front of the airplane. 'Cause with this crane, it's gonna probably be 60, 80 feet in the air, and we don't want her to crash again on her second flight after 63 years. >> NARRATOR: Darrell and John bring in a steel support brace that will run along the body of the B-25. The crew will hang additional straps from this brace to support the nose and tail of the plane as the load is lifted. >> That's good right there, guys, let it come on down. We can get it where we want it in a minute. >> NARRATOR: The back section of the barge is pulled away. It's time to raise the plane. >> Oh, let me here some consistent sounds. Give me a counter. >> NARRATOR: It's a unified effort. >> Rope, Danny. Keep 'em up snug, buddy. She's all coming up. Keep your eyes on that gap right there, in case anything starts changing right there in that hull. All right, go ahead, John. >> Okay, you broke, you broke surface. >> NARRATOR: As the plane is pulled higher, the Plexiglas dome on the gun turret rises to the surface. Remarkably, it's still intact. Divers remove it so that it will not be damaged during the final move. Originally introduced in 1936 by Otto Haas and Dr. Otto Rohm, by the beginning of World War II, Plexiglas was regularly used in cockpits and canopies. The gun canopy on the B-25 C supported two flexible .50-caliber machine guns. >> Let the water, let the water get out of it. Don't bang it against the side of the barge. Go your way. >> Nice job.<i> Bueno.</i> It's perfect. >> Very good shape. >> That's nice. >> NARRATOR: By late afternoon, it's time to transfer the support of the aircraft to the onshore crane. >> Go easy, guys. >> NARRATOR: Crewmen and divers work together to cradle the aircraft. As night falls, the remaining halves of the barge are split apart and pulled away. >> Come on, right there. >> NARRATOR: With the barge no longer supporting the weight of the plane, whatever happens, they will not be able to set her down. She has to come out of the water. >> There ain't no turning back now. We're on our way to the beach. >> NARRATOR: For the recovery board of directors-- Dr. Bob Seigler, Bill Vartorella, and John Hodge-- this moment has been a long time in the making. >> This is great. I'm happy, I'm relieved. So it's a big day. Been waiting for this day for 16 years. >> NARRATOR: One final check, and Gary signals the crane operator to start lifting the ten-ton plane out of the water. >> We're going for it, and it's very scary. >> NARRATOR: As the wings break the surface, gallons of water drain from the aircraft. Gary knows the weight of the water could shatter the plane. A vacuum truck is brought in to help remove the excess water. With all of the water cleared out, they try again to pull the B-25 out of the lake. >> Anything makes a big loud crack, you want to be moving, 'cause I'll be coming right over the top of you. We're gonna swing right, and we're gonna bring it to us, okay? >> Right. >> All right, buddy. >> NARRATOR: After a week and a half of work, just before midnight, the B-25 is in the air again. >> Boy, oh, boy. >> He's got her now. I mean, he can't go back out. >> All right, watch this wing tip here, guys. Put your hand on that wing tip. We'll walk that wing on around. >> Johnny, don't get under that engine, 'cause that motor mount could let go anytime. As far forward as we can get it up against that flat. Let me get around the back, and I'll give you a sign. >> I need a little bit more. I'm good right there. All right? Give me an "I love it!" >> All right, I'm coming down! >> Bring it on down. Do what you got to do. I'm right alignment. (cheering, whistling) Perfect, man. I couldn't get no better. (indistinct chatter) Whipped them again, huh, buddy. >> NARRATOR: For the first time >> NARRATOR: For the first time in more than 60 years, an extremely rare B-25 C bomber, that crash-landed into Lake Murray, is back on dry land. The plane is being donated to the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham, Alabama, where it will be restored and displayed. Officials from the museum get their first look at the entire aircraft. >> These are the brakes right here. The wheel would have been out here, and the tires huge. >> NARRATOR: Until now, the lower half of the plane has been hidden beneath the mud and silt. >> Buried pretty deep, and all we could see was the top part. But when it came up and we saw more and more, we saw this. You can see where the whole nose section has been ripped in half and offset about a foot. Probably happened when it hit the bottom. It may have happened when it hit the lake, but probably when it hit the bottom. This thing's like an eggshell. If you look at the back, back there, the tail, you can just poke your finger through the metal. >> Really? >> It's amazing that it's here. >> NARRATOR: Surprisingly, parts of the plane are in good shape. The rudders still have some fabric left on them, which is... that's unbelievable. I've never seen that before. And then withstanding the towing and raising and everything and still having little bits of fabric cling to it. >> NARRATOR: Museum volunteers are already cleaning mud and silt from the inside of the plane and discovering a treasure trove of priceless artifacts. >> This is an E6-B flight computer. We found this in the, uh, navigator's compartment in the front. This is a portable radio. I mean, this is what it took to transmit back in those days. This is the bomb-release switch right here, with its protective cover. It needs a new pin put in it. We just put it back to keep it together, but this is how you would have toggled the bomb. >> NARRATOR: Most surviving B-25's used during World War II have long since been stripped of their instruments, gauges, navigation charts, machine guns and parachutes. But Lake Murray has kept this plane safe from looters, preserving this combat-ready trainer and everything inside it since April 4, 1943. >> Little help here? >> There was a .30-caliber machine gun that was used from the nose compartment that stowed in the bottom of the bombardier compartment here. We can see the barrel. We did not know that was in there yesterday. As you can see right there, there's the muzzle under the water stream. This is an altitude correction chart, and this is for the bombardier to use in setting his bomb site to get the best accuracy, and it's in really good condition. This'll clean off. We don't want to scrub it too much. But the neatest thing of all, there's all his pencil calculations on the back, where he just used the back of the computer as a crib sheet. >> Should I scoop some mud out and put whatever I find on the top here? >> No, we're scooping it down that screen back there, is what we're doing. >> NARRATOR: Up to his elbows in mud, Bob Seigler relishes this moment, one that he has dreamed of for 16 years. For the past ten days, the divers have been doing all the work-- underwater and rigging and those kind of things-- whereas the museum people and I and some other folks on the barge who are not divers have basically just been observers. So, this is the first day that we've had an opportunity to get our hands on the airplane and actually physically go to work. Well, we spent the whole day today getting mud out of the airplane, and it is truly a phenomenal amount of mud. We got some fire hoses going, and I think have gotten most of the mud out. >> NARRATOR: One unexpected discovery involves a tradition that started in World War II. Before any plane flew its first combat mission, the pilot would decorate the aircraft with nose art, celebrating a wife, girlfriend, movie star or cartoon character. >> "Betty." Looks like "Lanie." "Irene." And then in pencil, on the side, is written "bad check." We'll see if it's appropriate or not. >> NARRATOR: Inside, workers finally get a good look at the remains of periscopes and machine guns. >> That's the sought-after retractable belly turret. >> NARRATOR: Still mostly obscured by sediment and rust, these telltale items confirm the existence of the belly turret, one of only four known to survive in the world. >> I don't think that this turret ever shot down an enemy plane. It would be almost impossible. >> Trying to catch a fighter plane going 250, 300 miles an hour, tracking with that little eyepiece just proved almost impossible, so they chunked 'em. They were just extra weight. As far as we know, this is the only one that's original with the same airplane that it was installed in. >> NARRATOR: It's a grand moment for Bob and Gary. >> This had the full complement of machine guns. It had four Browning .50-calibers-- two at the top, two at the bottom. One of the .50s right there. It's in the mount, twisted like this from where it hit the bottom. That's why you can see one barrel and not the other, but they both appear to be sound and rigid. Basically, this is a Browning .50-caliber air-cooled machine gun, and this section out here is the air-cooled portion of the barrel, and this allows air to circulate in and around the barrel. This is part of the feed mechanism on the side, and it's in good shape because it's stainless steel. >> NARRATOR: As workers begin to clean out the fuselage, they find a personal artifact belonging to the one living crew member. >> It's a good possibility we have the bill and the chin strap to Lieutenant Mascall's hat. >> Excellent, can you see the U.S. Army Air Corps insignia? >> NARRATOR: The leather has survived 62 years underwater, but if allowed to dry, it would deteriorate completely. For now, it will be stored in lake water until it can be properly preserved. Geraldine Mascall had heard about the crash before her husband came home. >> Here came Hank, walking up the street without a hat on, and of course, he looked funny because he was out of uniform. You didn't go around like that, you know? >> NARRATOR: For Dr. Bob Seigler, this is the conclusion of a 16-year effort to recover the last intact B-25 C from the bottom of Lake Murray. For the museum volunteers, this is just the beginning of an extensive renovation that will take an estimated ten years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to complete. And for Lieutenant Henry Mascall, when he saw the footage of his old plane being raised, the memories flooded back. The B-25 had survived largely intact. >> 62 years. I'm surprised it was in that good of condition. >> NARRATOR: Thanks to Gary Larkins, who has now added the 69th plane to his impressive list of aircraft he has raised, and to his Air Pirate divers, a very rare piece of aviation history has been preserved for generations to come. <font color="#FFFF00">Captioning sponsored by</font> <font color="#FFFF00">A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS</font> Captioned by <font color="#00FFFF">Media Access Group at WGBH</font> access.wgbh.org
