Until the late 1960s, my father served as Inspector General of the Communications Squadron for the Alaskan Air Command. One of his primary responsibilities was traveling between bases to inspect units and ensure their combat readiness. Early in his Alaskan tour, he was assigned to evaluate the facility at Eielson Air Force Base, located roughly 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks. Michael W. Michelsen, Jr., is a freelance writer living in Riverside, California, with his wife, Lisa, and their two Jack Russell terriers. He is the son of the late Major Michael W. Michelsen, Sr., a retired Air Force officer and co-pilot/navigator.
At the conclusion of the first day of his inspection, one of the other officers asked my father if he had ever met the “Lady.” Unaware of what this referred to, he sheepishly replied, “I guess not.” With that, my father and the other officers climbed into the back of a waiting pickup truck and headed to the end of one of the runways. The truck stopped at a small cluster of trees surrounding a shallow body of water. There, almost entirely submerged, rested a WB-29 Superfortress that had been abandoned in its watery grave for decades. Stories about the so-called “Lady in the Lake” have circulated for years. Contrary to urban legends suggesting ghostly apparitions or tragic heiresses, the tales focus instead on the aircraft’s history, lineage, and the circumstances that left it where it rests today.
The Bomber
For years, the aircraft has remained partially submerged in what was once a gravel pit. According to some accounts, sometime after 1955 and before 1964, an unidentified commander decided to place the fuselage—already damaged beyond repair—into the muck. The exact reason is unclear; some speculate it was merely to remove an unsightly wreck, while others suggest it was intended for open-water egress training for crews. Unfortunately, no one had checked the water’s depth before dropping the aircraft, leaving only portions of the nose lattice, part of the starboard wing, and the top of the vertical stabilizer visible above the surface. The stabilizer is now covered with bumper stickers and pockmarked with modern bullet holes, far too submerged for practical training purposes.
Who Is the Lady?
The question of the aircraft’s pedigree remained largely unanswered until August 2022, when a team of divers explored the wreck. Work was slow and painstaking due to the near-zero visibility in the muck. Despite the challenging conditions, divers recovered a small table from inside the aircraft, which bore the tail number 44-62214 and the names of the crew, written in white grease pencil. Beneath the surface, they also discovered an “A-frame” structure that once supported one wing, lending credence to the training theory. Divers noted considerable damage to the underside of the fuselage, supporting accounts that the aircraft had been involved in a crash, marking the end of its operational life. With parts scarce and newer aircraft coming online, repairing the plane was no longer feasible.
Once the tail number was verified, Jack Waid, the former historian for Eielson, explained that official records do not clearly document how the aircraft came to rest in the lake, leaving only speculation and legend. Sometime before 1964, the plane ended up submerged, but whether this was due to an accident, as an eyesore to remove, or for training purposes remains uncertain. Waid was able to confirm part of the aircraft’s history. Known today as the “Lady in the Lake,” the WB-29 was a Cold War veteran, involved in early U.S. efforts to monitor Soviet nuclear activity. Records show the plane was assigned to the 58th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Eielson in 1949. From there, it flew between Yokohama, Japan, and Alaska, detecting radioactive fallout from the Soviet Union’s first nuclear test of the RDS-1 atomic bomb—a critical mission during the early Cold War period. “The Lady really is a very historic aircraft, even if she isn’t flying right now,” Waid noted. Editor’s Note: You can check Pacific Wrecks for additional information.
Ongoing Investigations
Waid has led efforts to uncover more about the aircraft, which has become a local attraction and has drawn attention from publications and broadcast media worldwide. Finding the table with the tail number and crew names solved part of the mystery, but Waid hopes to determine more definitively how the plane ended up in the lake. During the 2022 dive, crews were limited by poor weather and low visibility. While they identified deliberate damage to the fuselage consistent with egress training, many original parts were missing, and they could not determine if the landing gear remained intact.
“This is what we know: there was supposedly a minor accident in 1955, and that ended any official record,” Waid explained. “As for how it got into the lake, we don’t know. There are multiple stories, none of which can be confirmed.” The Lady ceased flying in the mid-1950s, as B-50 bombers came online and spare parts for B-29s became scarce. The plane’s crash history made repairs impractical, and it eventually ended up in the lake before 1964. Waid plans further research and hopes to conduct another dive during the next summer, once the weather clears. The aircraft will remain in the lake, as it is better preserved there. On-site, the base has installed an informational booth for visitors. “I consider it a time capsule,” Waid said. “I’d like to answer the question of how it got out there with greater certainty.”
