Phoenix P-1 wreck disposition?

[Chris Brame]

Saw this on a car forum and it doesn't sound right to me:

In July of 1965, during the filming of "Flight of the Phoenix", Paul Mantz was killed when the plane he was piloting crashed in an area called Buttercup Valley, near Yuma, AZ. The film company decided to bury the remains of the plane at the filming site in Buttercup Valley, where it presumably resides to this day.

So what really did happen to the wreck?

[aerovin2]

I understand the undercarriage structure was used later in the filming (on a dry lake bed for the takeoff scenes showing the skids) and the remainder was removed back to a storage studio lot and most likely eventually scrapped.

[Chris Brame]

(on a dry lake bed for the takeoff scenes showing the skids)

You mean the shot with all the buildings in the background?

[aerovin2]

My notes from the Margaret Herrick Library Tallmantz film files indicate that the skids from the wreckage were attached to a "garbage truck" (presumably the kind with the hydraulic lift" and scenes were shot at or near Fox Field (Lancaster) on September 10, 1965.