Experimental drone disaster

12th August 1944: Joseph P. Kennedy, brother of JFK, dies piloting a B-24 flying bomb from which he had been expected to parachute to safety

B-24 bombers on a raid over Europe. Kennedy was flying an experimental B-24 adapted to be flown remotely by radio control. The 21,170 pounds of explosive on board were intended to destroy a high priority target when the aircraft was flown into it.

On 13th June 1944 the Nazis had begun firing the first of their Vergeltungswaffen ("retaliatory" or "repr…