The aircraft was part of the low-level Ploesti mission flown on August 1, 1943, departing Bengazi at 7:00 AM. It sustained flak damage including a hole in the left vertical stabilizer and at least two additional hits, one of which struck the waist section and set the rear of the aircraft on fire. The top turret gunner and right waist gunner were both wounded before the aircraft went down. Surviving crewmen attempted to bail out at an extremely low altitude of 100 to 200 feet. The source was uncertain whether the plane exploded on impact or whether other crew members successfully bailed out. Reed, the reporting crew member, believed most of the crew were either killed in the crash or burned to death. He noted that even those who bailed out would have had little chance of survival given the extremely low altitude at the time of bailout.