 It remains unclear whether Nowotny was killed due to engine failure or whether he was shot down by United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) Captain Ernest <unk> ( 20th Fighter Group ) and 1st Lieutenant Edward " Buddy " Haydon ( 357th Fighter Group ) east of Hesepe . In recent years , United States military historians proposed that Nowotny 's victor may have been P @-@ 51D pilot Lieutenant Richard W. Stevens of the <unk> Fighter Group . Many witnesses observed Nowotny 's Me 262 A @-@ 1a Werk Nummer 110 400 ( factory number ) " White 8 " dive vertically out of the clouds and crash at Epe , 2 @.@ 5 kilometres ( 1 @.@ 6 mi ) east of Hesepe . The Wehrmacht announced his death on 9 November 1944 in the daily Wehrmachtbericht . 
