In December in 1944, I was stationed at Ellington Field in Texas training cadets to be navigation officers. We were permitted to take weekend trips with a pilot and training officers to a destination close to the home town of all on board. On this trip, I was the pilot. Our destination was New York City. After some time, I attempted to contact the control tower, without success. Our electrical system was down. I was on top of a cloud bank with no beam to descend on. I circled for a while testing instruments. No gyros were working and some instruments were on "static" electricity. Using my fluid compass, I flew north. I had a number of navigation officers on board and my goal was getting them on the ground safely. Suddenly a hole seemed to open up in the clouds and I saw a runway below. The runway was for test landing and too short for my aircraft but there were no other options. There was a house off one end of the runway and fields in the other direction. I decided to come over the house, land on the runway and use the farmland to finish my landing. But, when I ran out of runway there was a small building ahead of me with a woman standing in front. I cut the power, but momentum was carrying me forward. I kept hitting my left brake. My left landing gear collapsed and my left wing dropped to the ground causing my right wing to rise over the woman and structure. The plane ended up in a small ravine. The officers who picked us up said there had been no hole in the cloud where I came down. So, was it Divine Intervention?

Anonymous
Philadelphia, PA