Lt. James Dean Hill was the crew's pilot.

Role of the pilot

Unlike most other bombers of World War II, a B-17 had two pilots: the pilot and a co-pilot. The reason for this was the complexity of the controls and redundancy in case the pilot got wounded or killed in combat. Having two pilots was also helpful when flying in formation.

Besides flying the plane, the pilot was also in command of the crew of 8 or 9 people. Although many pilots listened to advise of the rest of the crew, the final decision was theirs.

Sources

• Pilot/co-pilot, on B-17 flying fortress website