L-8

L-8 "Ghost Blimp" incident

The abandoned L-8, floating over San Francisco after the disappearance of its crew and showing damage sustained from impacting the ground at Ocean Beach.
Occurrence
Date	16 August 1942 (1942-08-16); 82 years, 2 months ago
Summary	Cause unknown, aircraft recovered
Site	Pacific Ocean, off the coast of San Francisco, California, U.S.
Aircraft
Aircraft type	L-class blimp
Operator	United States Navy
Registration	L-8
Flight origin	Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, U.S.
Destination	Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupants	2
Passengers	0
Crew	2
Fatalities	2 (presumed)
Survivors	0 (presumed)

L-8, later renamed America and popularly known as the "Ghost Blimp", was a United States Navy L-class airship whose crew disappeared over the Pacific Ocean on August 16, 1942. At 11:15 a.m., several hours after the airship lifted off from Treasure Island, San Francisco, California, L-8 reappeared off the shore of Ocean Beach near Fort Funston. L-8 briefly made contact with the ground at Ocean Beach, causing damage to the airship, then drifted over San Francisco and crashed on Bellevue Avenue, Daly City. No traces of its crewmen, Lieutenant Ernest DeWitt Cody and Ensign Charles Adams, have ever been found.