WWII aircraft discovered in the Himalayas

A missing World War II plane has been identified in the remote Indian Himalayas nearly 80 years after it crashed. The search for it has been treacherous indeed. Three guides died in a snowstorm.

It was the wreckage of a C-46 transport plane carrying passengers from Kunming in southern China when the firstin the first week of 1945, disappeared in stormy weather over a mountainous stretch of Arunachal Pradesh. This is the easternmost state of India. It is bordered to the south by another Indian state, Assam, and the southern tip of its territory by Nagaland.

"The plane was never heard of again. It simply disappeared," said American adventurer Clayton Kuhles, who led the reconnaissance mission. This was at the request of the son of one of the passengers who were on board.

Specifically, it was an American Curtiss C-46 Commando twin-engine aircraft, which had been used in military aviation since World War II. Originally a civilian aircraft, it could hold up to 36 passengers. During the war, it was produced exclusively for military use because the military needed it. It could fly at speeds of up to 433 km/h.

The expedition to find the wreckage took several months. The team, which included local guides from the local Lisu ethnic group (who live mainly in the Nujiang Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern Yunnan), had to cross several rivers. In some places they had water up to their chests. They camped in the freezing cold at high altitudes.

Three guides died of hypothermia early in the project when the group camped and were hit by a snowstorm. But the team eventually found the remains of the plane on a snow-covered mountaintop, where they were able to identify the wreckage by the number on the tail of the aircraft. But they found no human remains.

Kuhles was asked to search by Bill Scherer, whose father was an officer aboard the plane when it crashed. "All I can say is I'm overjoyed. It's enough for me to know where the plane crashed. It's sad, but at the same time joyful. I learned where my father probably died," admitted the man who grew up without a father.

He recalled the situation as his mother received a telegram. "It said her husband was missing. She was left alone with me. I was only thirteen months old," Scherer further revealed.

Hundreds of U.S. military aircraft went missing around the theaters of operations in India, China and Myanmar during World War II. Although hostile fire from Japanese forces was responsible for the crashes of some planes, Kuhles said most of the crashes were caused by the harsh weather here. Often there are hurricane-force winds or snowstorms.

Source: www.straitstimes.com