The wreckage of a US Army plane that went missing during World War II has been located in India's Himalayas following a perilous search that claimed the lives of three guides, 77 years after the plane crashed the aircraft and the death of its 13 passengers.
The C-46 was coming from Kunming in southern China when it was caught in a storm over a mountainous area in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in January 1945.
Read alsoThe USS Grenadier, a World War II submarine, was waiting to be rediscovered off Phuket
“
We had never heard of this aircraft again.
He had simply disappeared
, ”American Clayton Kuhles, founding president of the non-governmental organization MIA Recoveries, who conducted the research, commissioned by the son of one of the passengers, told AFP this week.
Clayton Kuhles and his team of local ethnic Lisu guides faced extreme conditions in the mountains, sometimes having to cross deep-water rivers and camp in freezing temperatures at high altitudes.
"It's both sad and joyful"
Last September, three of these guides died of hypothermia, in the initial phase of the expedition, while camping in the middle of a snowstorm. Last month, the team finally discovered the wreckage of the plane on top of a snow-capped mountain, where it could be identified by its number still visible on the tail of the aircraft. No remains of passengers were found there.
Clayton Kuhles was assigned by Bill Scherer, son of an officer on board the plane.
“
All I can say is that I'm overjoyed just to know where he is.
It's both sad and joyful,
" Bill Scherer told AFP by email from New York.
“
I grew up without a father.
I only think of my poor mother, on receiving the telegram informing her that her husband had disappeared and that she was left alone with me, a 13-month-old baby
,” he added.
Hundreds of US military aircraft disappeared from the theater of operations in India, China and Burma during World War II.
While hostile fire from Japanese forces caused some aircraft losses, according to Clayton Kuhles, the majority were damaged by encountering ice, hurricane-force winds and other extreme weather conditions.
His organization MIA Recoveries, a specialist in researching US Air Force aircraft, has found since its founding in early 2000, 26 aircraft that have been missing for decades, representing 266 personnel on the official MIA (missing in action) list. , according to its website.
