Crash of a Boeing B-17F-55-BO Flying Fortress near Challis: 1 killed

The airplane departed Walla Walla Airport on a local instrument navigation training flight. The weather closed in south of Pendleton, OR, and the crew became lost. The radio compass malfunctioned, and it was discovered that the navigator's compass had been removed from the aircraft. The control tower at Walla Walla Field instructed the crew to attempt reaching Gowen Field at Boise, ID, where visibility had improved. En route, they found the bomb bay fuel tank had not been filled before takeoff. Carburetor and wing icing became an issue as the weather worsened. Later the crew realized they wouldn't be able to reach Boise, so the pilot set the aircraft on autopilot and ordered the crew to bail out. All nine men bailed out over the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in remote wilderness. The aircraft circled for several minutes until the fuel was exhausted then crashed in a mountainous area located 40 km southeast of Challis, ID. Eight of the nine airmen survived deep snow and freezing temperatures for over a week by following the river and staying in abandoned cabins. Rescue came after one of them figured out how to climb a pole and close the switch for a ranger station telephone. The flight engineer (S/Sgt Henry C. Vanslager) was never found, and it was assumed that either his parachute failed to open or he drowned in the river.
Source: Joe Baugher