Flying from the northeast, the leading B-29 reached Nagasaki around 11:00 a.m., while the second aircraft followed from the same direction around 11:02 a.m. They proceeded over the Ariake Sea and the northern part of Shimabara Peninsula toward Nagasaki. flying in a westerly direction north of Kumamoto City. Although it is impossible to determine the exact flight path taken by the Nagasaki bombing unit, a number of reports, witness comments and memoirs provide useful clues.Ī document entitled “August 9 Report on Air-Raid Damage in the Nagasaki District” includes the following information: However, the log supposedly kept by James Van Pelt, the navigator of the Nagasaki mission three days later, has never been found. Van Kirk was the navigator of the Enola Gay, the aircraft used to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Regarding the flight path taken by the Hiroshima bombing unit on August 6, the log kept by Theodore Van Kirk includes the unit’s flight chart. Many things remain to be clarified regarding the flight path taken by Bockscar (the B-29 carrying the atomic bomb) and The Great Artiste, the observation aircraft accompanying it, before they dropped the atomic bomb and parachute-fitted radiosondes over the city.
(2) Records from Other Cities and Prefectures Situation at the Time of the Atomic Bombing
