A World War II plane identified as missing has been found in a remote
location in India's Himalayas after it crashed nearly 80 years ago with no
survivors in a dangerous search that led to the deaths of three guides.
A C-46 transport plane carrying 13 people from Kunming in southern China
disappeared in stormy weather over the mountainous stretch of Arunachal
Pradesh state in the first week of 1945.
"This plane was never heard of
again. It just disappeared," Clayton said. Kuhles, as reported by
France24, Friday (21/1/2022).
Kuhles is an adventurer from the United States (US) who leads a mission
after a request from the son of one of the unfortunate passengers on the
plane.
The expedition took months. Kuhles and a team of guides from the local
Lisu ethnic group waded chest-high rivers and camped out in the freezing
temperatures at high altitude. Three guides died of hypothermia in the
early stages of the project while camping during a snowstorm last
September.
But the team finally found the plane atop a snow-covered mountain last
month, where they were able to identify the debris by tail number. No
human remains in the wreckage remained.
Kuhles was assigned to conduct the search by Bill Scherer, whose father
was an officer and was on board the plane when it crashed.
"All I can say is I'm so excited, just knowing where he is. It's sad but
uplifting," Scherer told AFP by email from New York. "I grew up without a
father.
All I can think about is my poor mother, getting a telegram and finding
out her husband is missing and he is left with me, a 13 month old baby
boy."
Hundreds of US military aircraft went missing near theaters of operations
in India, China and Myanmar during World War II.
While enemy fire from Japanese forces caused some aircraft losses, Kuhles
said the majority were believed to have been brought down by damage by
ice, windstorms and other adverse weather conditions.
