More info on the group:
https://www.battlefields.org/learn/a...-recovery-avar
The current B-24 project in England:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-57663496
https://news.sky.com/story/us-vetera...crash-12345414
This appears to be this plane, a B-24, serial number 42-94826, MACR 7550:
http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/9871
MACR 7550:
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/91035941
Page 5 of the MACR is the bombardier's comments. He notes that "A-5 could not be set up as I saw them (pilot and co-pilot?) working with it."
The A-5 was the Sperry AutoPilot. Without the autopilot flying the plane for the final moments, it probably was impossible for all the flight crew to get out of the plane once they let go of the controls. The plane would immediately go down.
Co -Pilot John James Crowther:
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8055...e-daily-times/
(Note the MACR lists Crowther as the co-pilot while the newspaper article says he was the pilot. Also, according to the newspaper article, it appears that Crowther was found outside the plane and that either his chute failed to open or he jumped too late. It is possible Montgomery kept flying the plane at the end to give Crowther and Holoka a chance to get out. The fact that they started the bail-out while still over water suggests to me that things were rapidly going wrong at the end.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/...james-crowther
The Pilot Montgomery and Flight Engineer Holoka are still missing per DPAA list:
https://www.dpaa.mil/Portals/85/WWII...S_20210625.pdf