On Monday 26 September at 8:50 AM, the replica of a Japanese B5N “Kate” torpedo-bomber operated by the Tora! Tora! Tora! group of the Commemorative Air Force ran into engine trouble while returning to Texas from an airshow in Bullhead City.
With his engine out, pilot Bill Fier immediately picked a cotton field near Thatcher, AZ, where he performed a gear-up landing. After skidding over some 30 yards, the aircraft halted to a stop. Fier was unharmed and the aircraft only received light damage.
The aircraft (registered N2047) is a Harvard Mk IV modified to look like a Japanese Nakajima B5N Kate torpedo-bomber of World War II. Of the 1,150 examples built during the war, no complete airframe has survived.
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