A group effort
It wasn't Alfred Hagen's first time trying to get the B-17 out of the muck. Hagen's mission was accomplished because he collaborated with wealthy entrepreneur and warbird enthusiast David Tallichet and seasoned warbird salvager Rob Greinert. For example, a museum in California had been in talks with a PNG organization for ten years (!) before giving up. That, plus plenty of effort and a hundred grand to New Guinea's National Museum and Art Gallery for the privilege of exporting the Swamp Ghost.