1945 — Dec 4, USAAF C-47 missing, Monrovia Liberia for Johannesburg off west African coast–17

Compiled 12-30-2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–17  Aviation Safety Network. USAAF C-47 missing Monrovia, Liberia to Accra-Kotoka, Ghana.

–17  Evening Star, DC. “State Department Courier Listed on Missing Plane.” 1-15-1946, p. 2.

Narrative Information

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 129:

“Date:                          Tuesday 4 December 1945

“Type:                         Douglas C-47B-11-DK (DC-3)

“Operator:                   United States Army Air Force – USAAF

“Registration:              43-49262

“MSN:                         26523/15078

….

“Total (crew/passengers): Fatalities: 17 / Occupants: 17

“Aircraft damage:       Missing

….

“Location:                   at an unknown location

….

“Departure airport:      Monrovia-Roberts International Airport…Liberia

“Destination airport:   Accra-Kotoka Airport…Ghana

“Narrative:                  Missing off African coast.” [Both countries are on west African coast.]

 

Baugher: “….Douglas C-47B-10-DK….49262 (MSN 15078/26523) to USAAF as C-47B-11-DK 29Nov44. North Africa Wing ATC 23Dec44. Attached to 1254th AAFBU missing Dec 4, 1945 on flight from Casablanca [Moroca] to Johannesburg, South Africa.[1] No wreckage ever found.

 

Newspaper

 

Jan 15: “Homer C. White, assigned to the diplomatic pouch and carrier section of the State Department, has been listed by the War Department as among 17 persons on an Army Transport Command plane missing since December 9[2] on a flight between Dakar and Johannesburg, South Africa.[3] The Army said the plane was last reported at Roberts Field in Liberia[4] and that a search is continuing along the plane’s route. All but two persons on the plane were Army officers….” (The Evening Star, Washington, DC. “State Department Courier Listed on Missing Plane.” 1-15-1946, p. 2.)

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 129. USAAF C-47B missing, Monrovia, Liberia to Accra-Kotoka, Ghana, off African coast, 12-4-1945. Accessed 12-30-2023 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19451204-0

 

Baugher, Joseph F. 1943 USAAF Serial Numbers (43-5109 to 43-52437). 9-1-2023 revision. Accessed 12-30-2023 at: https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1943_2.html

 

The Evening Star, Washington, DC. “State Department Courier Listed on Missing Plane.” 1-15-1946, p. 2. Accessed 12-30-2023 at:

https://newspaperarchive.com/washington-dc-washington-evening-star-jan-15-1946-p-2/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] It is possible that both Aviation Safety Network and Baugher are correct. The distance from Casablanca to Johannesburg “as the crow flies” is about 6,833 miles. The range of a Douglas C-47 Skytrain was about 1,600 miles (Wikipedia). Thus stops would need to be made along the way. It could be that one leg was to Monrovia, Liberia and the next to Accra-Kotoka Airport, Ghana.

[2] Given that the dates do not match with the Aviation Safety Network (ASN) page devoted to a December transport loss with 17 deaths, however, we have not located in the ASN listings or elsewhere (e.g. BAAA) information on a December 9 USAAF loss. Thus we speculate that the December 9 date of loss could be inaccurate.

[3] Dakar is on the western tip of Senegal on the west African coast, to the north of Monrovia, Liberia by about 1,108 miles (google maps). Given the 1,600 mile range of a C-47, this would be a reasonable leg of a flight from Casablanca to Johannesburg, as Baugher has it.

[4] This matches with ASN report that Monrovia-Roberts was departure airport and that the plane then went missing.