One American died in Albufeira in a Lightning (43-2148)

A fuel shortage or a damage were probably the causes for accident forcing the pilot to find a place to land, when he was unable to find it he had to jump and use the parachute.

A latter investigation indicated that the pilot had hit the T-shaped tail elevator that throw him unconscious and incapable of ripping the parachute harness. The pilot fell helpless into the ground and died.

Neither the plane nor the pilot where part of any unit and were on the way for their first combat unit as Rope had recently left the flying school.

By the end of the war his body was reburied in the Lorraine American Cemetery, in St. Avold, France.

Air 1943