“In one of Ernest Gann’s books, he tells how he nearly crashed a B-17 into the Taj Mahal. It was supposed to be a short flight, but the plane’s tanks had been filled completely by mistake. ...”
Memory indicates he wrote about it in his autobiography, “A Hostage to Fortune.”
If my memory is correct, during WW2 Gann was a pilot for American Airlines, and flew all over, under contract to the US War Dept.
In the incident HartleyMBaldwin mentioned, Gann was pilot-in-command of a C-87, a cargo version of the B-24 bomber. Altogether a different aircraft than a B-17, more payload and range, less forgiving in its handling.
After landing, Gann & crew told the ground personnel to refuel the machine to the point where a certain number of gallons was on board. The ground crew apparently heard it as “add that certain number of gallons to what was already in the tanks.”
As the flight crew prepared to depart, they did not check the documentation in detail, to verify exactly how many additional gallons had been pumped onboard. They started the engines, taxied to the runway, and advanced the throttles for takeoff.
No one noticed the C-87’s sluggish performance until it was too late to abort the takeoff. AS HartleyMBaldwin mentioned, via judicious use of flaps Gann narrowly avoided hitting the Taj Mahal. Throughout, he fretted about going down in history as the pilot who destroyed it.
For anyone interested in the romance and adventure of commercial aviation during its development from the 1920s through the 1970s, E K Gann’s books can be an interesting, clear read.
Thanks for filling this in. It has been many years since I read that book, but back then (late 70s) I read many of Gann’s books. Good stuff!