1945 — Nov 3, USAAF C-54 wrong route crash, Himalayan Mts. ~Chukha, Bhutan, India–  44    

Last edit Nov 26, 2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  44  ASN. Accident description. USAAF Douglas C-54G-5-DO, near Chhukha (Bhutan).

—  44  Baugher. 1945 USAAF Serial Numbers.  Sep 21, 2011 revision.

—  44  El Paso Herald-Post, TX.  “U.S. Plane Wreck Found; 44 Dead.” 12-13-1945, p. 9.

—  44  Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 35.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 126 (USAAF C-54) :

“Date:                          Saturday 3 November 1945, 02:00

“Type:                         Douglas C-54G-5-DO (DC-4)

“Operator:                   United States Army Air Force – USAAF

“Registration:              45-528

“MSN:                         35981

“First flight:                1945

“Crew:                         Fatalities:   4 / Occupants:   4

“Passengers:                Fatalities: 40 / Occupants: 40

“Total:                         Fatalities:  44 / Occupants: 44….

“Location:                   near Chhukha (Bhutan)….[1]

“Departure airport:      Dibrugarth-Chabua Airport…India (Became sovereign in 1949.)[2]

“Destination airport:  Karachi…Pakistan

“Narrative:                  Crashed into a mountain at an elevation of 8000 feet. The pilot decided to take the direct route to Karachi instead of the designated airway.

“Statistics:  worst accident involving a Douglas DC-4 (at the time).” 

(Aviation Safety Network.  Accident description. USAAF Douglas C-54G-5-DO, near Chhukha (Bhutan)…03 Nov 1945.[3])

Baugher: “Douglas C-54G-5-DO Skymaster….528 (c/n 35981) crashed into mountain near Chuka, India Nov 3, 1945. 44 killed.” (Baugher. 1945 USAAF Serial Numbers.  Sep 21, 2011 revision.)

Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 35:

“Date:              3 November 1945 (c.02:00)

“Location:       Near Chhuka, Bhutan, India

“Operator:       US Army Air Forces

“Aircraft type: Douglas C-54GG (45-528A)

“During an internal Indian flight to Karachi  from Chabua airfield, located near Dibrugarh, Assam, the four-engine transport crashed into a mountain ridge in the Himalayas at an approximate elevation of 8,000ft (2,500m) and 50 miles (80km) south of Punakha. Although the wreckage of the aircraft was not located until the following month, all 44 American servicemen aboard (40 passengers and a crew of four) had perished in the crash. It was dark at the time of the accident, with no moon, but the meteorological conditions in the area, consisting of unlimited ceiling and visibility, were apparently not a factor. The location of the crash indicated that 45-528A had flown the direct route between the two cities and off the designated airway. An investigative board concluded that this action was probably deliberate on the part of the pilot-in-command, in violation of prescribed regulations, and placed the aircraft at an insufficient height to clear the terrain. Villagers reported seeing an aircraft, probably the C-54, proceeding east to west at a low altitude. Initial impact with trees tore off its starboard wind, after which the transport crashed, exploded and disintegrated.”

Newspaper

Dec 13: “Calcutta, Dec. 13. – (INS) – The wreckage of a C-54 transport containing the bodies of 44 American soldiers en route to the United States[4] when their plane crashed five weeks ago, was found today in the Himalayan state of Bhutan.  The dead included 10 officers and 34 enlisted men.  The plane struck a peak at an altitude of 8200 feet.” (El Paso Herald-Post, TX.  “U.S. Plane Wreck Found; 44 Dead.” 12-13-1945, p. 9.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 126. United States Army Air Force Douglas C-54G-5-DO, near Chhukha (Bhutan)…03 Nov 1945. Accessed 11-26-2023 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19451103-0

Baugher, Joseph F. 1945 USAAF Serial Numbers. 9-21-2011 revision. Accessed 1-1-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1945.html

El Paso Herald-Post, TX. “U.S. Plane Wreck Found; 44 Dead.” 12-13-1945, p. 9. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=99479547

Flying the Hump. Oct 23, 2005. Accessed 1-1-2012 at: http://www.oocities.org/tbtho/hump.htm

Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999. 

Wikipedia. “Bhutan.” 11-26-2023 edit. Accessed 11-26-2023. Accessed 11-26-2023 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan

Wikipedia. “Mebisa.”  11-17-2011 update. 1-1-2012 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mebisa

[1] Chhukha, or Chukha, is now called Mebisa, “a town on the Wangchu River and seat of the Chukha District in Bhutan.”  (Wikipedia.  “Mebisa.”  11-17-2011 update.)  “Bhutan… officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People’s Republic of China. Bhutan is separated from the nearby country of Nepal to the west by the Indian state of Sikkim, and from Bangladesh to the south by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal.”  (Wikipedia.  “Bhutan.” 12-31-2011 modification.)

[2] Wikipedia. “Bhutan.” 11-26-2023 edit. Accessed 11-26-2023.

[3] Cites as sources:  USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers–1908 to Present / Joe Baugher; and
Military aviation disasters : significant losses since 1908 / D. Gero, 1999.

[4] According to a post by Jim O’Callaghan to the website “Flying the Hump,” 10-23-2005, the plane was on the way to Karachi “where they were to obtain transport home.” (http://www.oocities.org/tbtho/hump.htm)