B-24 Liberator Fuel Tanks — Exploded When Hit — Crews Called It 'Flying Coffin'

B-24 Liberator: The "Flying Coffin" - How Unarmored Fuel Tanks Killed 21,000 AirmenThe Consolidated B-24 Liberator was America's most-produced heavy bomber—18,482 built. It had twice the range of the B-17 Flying Fortress. It could strike targets the B-17 couldn't reach. But it had a fatal flaw: 2,700 gallons of fuel stored in unarmored wing tanks directly over the engines. In the Eighth Air Force, 56% of all B-24 combat losses traced to fuel-system fires. Crews called it the "Flying Coffin." One 20mm hit could turn the entire wing into an inferno in six seconds. At Ploiești, 54 of 177 bombers were lost—31%—mostly to fuel fires. This is the engineering story of how the pursuit of range created the most combustible bomber of WWII, and why 21,000 American airmen died in fires that subsequent designs learned to prevent.

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