Crashed World War II aircraft found in Himalayas after 77 years!
Clayton Kuhles, a US adventurer who led the mission, said, "This aircraft was never heard from again. It simply disappeared.”
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New Delhi, January 21: A missing World War II plane has been identified in India's remote Himalayas, almost 80 years after it crashed, with no survivors. It followed a treacherous search that led to the deaths of 3 guides.
Reportedly, Clayton Kuhles, a US adventurer who led the mission after a request from the son of one of those on board the doomed flight, said, "This aircraft was never heard from again. It simply disappeared.”
The expedition took months. It saw Kuhles and a team of guides from the local Lisu ethnic group ford chest-deep rivers and camp in freezing temperatures at high altitudes. 3 guides died of hypothermia at an initial stage of the project while camped out in a September snowstorm.
"All I can say is that I am overjoyed, just knowing where he is. It is sad but joyous,” said Scherer. "I grew up without a father. All I can think of is my poor Mother, getting a telegram and finding out her husband is missing and she is left with me, a 13-month-old baby boy."
Scores of US military planes went missing around the theatre of operations in India, China and Myanmar during World War II.
While hostile fire from Japanese forces accounted for some losses, Kuhles said the majority are believed to have been brought down by ice damage, hurricane-force winds and other severe weather conditions.
The C-46 transport aircraft was carrying 13 people from Kunming in southern China, when it disappeared in stormy weather over a mountainous stretch of Arunachal Pradesh state in the first week of 1945.
Reportedly, Clayton Kuhles, a US adventurer who led the mission after a request from the son of one of those on board the doomed flight, said, "This aircraft was never heard from again. It simply disappeared.”
The expedition took months. It saw Kuhles and a team of guides from the local Lisu ethnic group ford chest-deep rivers and camp in freezing temperatures at high altitudes. 3 guides died of hypothermia at an initial stage of the project while camped out in a September snowstorm.
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But the team finally stumbled upon the plane on a snow-clad mountain top last month, where they identified the wreckage by the tail number. There were no human remains in what was left of the craft. Kuhles was tasked with conducting the search by Bill Scherer - whose officer father was aboard the plane when it crashed.
"All I can say is that I am overjoyed, just knowing where he is. It is sad but joyous,” said Scherer. "I grew up without a father. All I can think of is my poor Mother, getting a telegram and finding out her husband is missing and she is left with me, a 13-month-old baby boy."
Scores of US military planes went missing around the theatre of operations in India, China and Myanmar during World War II.
While hostile fire from Japanese forces accounted for some losses, Kuhles said the majority are believed to have been brought down by ice damage, hurricane-force winds and other severe weather conditions.