Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis hanging in the. Smithsonian National
Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Washington (AP) – Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, one of the most
treasured aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum, has been lowered
to the floor for its first conservation treatment in 22 years.

For decades, the single-engine aircraft has been suspended from the ceiling
and seen from afar. Early Thursday, it was carefully lowered to the floor. Now
visitors are getting an up-close look at the historic plane and can better imagine
what it must have been like to fly.

For the next eight months, the aircraft is expected to be in full view to the
museum’s millions of visitors as conservators repair cracks in its fabric skin
and search for other damage.

Charles Lindbergh with the Spirit of St. Louis in 1927

The crash site of United Airlines Flight 173 near NE 158th Avenue and East Burnside Street in Portland, Oregon.

Since the United 173 crash resulted in a Crew Resource Management (CRM) 
training revolution, the accident has been called one of the most important in
history.

Held responsible for the accident, Captain McBroom lost his pilot’s license and
retired from United Airlines shortly afterwards. He died on October 9, 2004 at
age 77.

Mike Gracia

General/Doctor James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle USAF
(December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993)

Gen. James H. Doolittle led the first air raid on Japan during
World War II and earned the Medal of Honor for his valor and
leadership as commander of the mission which took place on
April of 1942, while he was a lieutenant colonel. 

Artists depiction of the Doolittle Raid on Japan

Pearl Harbor Memorial