Before and After the Model 299 Crash: Boeing’s Prototype in Six Photographs

Boeing’s prototype brought four engines and several gun positions into one large bomber. This photograph records the intact aircraft before the October crash; the archive supplies the year, not the day. Later B-17s inherited the basic idea but accumulated changes in engines, equipment, structure and armament.

The streamlined waist blister accommodated a defensive gun position. Such fittings helped give the prototype its Flying Fortress reputation, but each station added equipment and responsibilities for the crew. The photograph belongs to the aircraft’s development period, months before the Army evaluation ended in a fatal crash.

The instrument panel and paired controls show the working space of the prototype’s pilots. Operating four engines and an unfamiliar aircraft required more than confidence at the controls. After the crash, the locked tail controls became the central finding; this earlier cockpit photograph helps place that finding in the crew’s working environment.

Smoke rises from Model 299 after the failed takeoff. Rescue efforts began quickly because the aircraft came down on the field. Major Ployer Hill died that day; Boeing pilot Leslie Tower died later from his injuries. Three other men aboard survived. The loss prompted an immediate investigation.

The remains of the prototype provided physical evidence for the inquiry. Investigators combined the position of the control locks with survivor testimony and accounts from the ground. Their November report rejected structural or engine failure as the cause. The aircraft had taken off with controls that the pilots needed still locked.