Lost Curtiss C-46 finally found

On 6 January 1945, a USAAF Curtiss C-46 Commando transport was lost in India’s Himalaya region. It was finally found on a snow-covered mountain side in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh in India in the last week of January 2022, more than 77 years later.

The C-46, with serial 42-96721 (c/n 30383) was carrying thirteen people (four crew, nine passengers) from Kunming-Wujiaba airfield in southern China to Chabua Air Force Station, India when it disappeared in stormy weather over the mountainous terrain.

These flights across the ‘Roof of the World’, known as known as ‘Flying the Hump’, were extremely hazardous because of the high altitudes flown and the frequently adverse weather conditions. They were nevertheless considered essential to the wartime effort in connecting Allied territory India and China.

The expedition to search for the lost C-46 was initiated by Bill Scherer, the son of one of the people that was on the plane when it disappeared. Scherer was only one-and-a-half year old when he lost his dad. US adventurer Clayton Kuhles led the expedition, assisted by a team of local Lisu guides.

The wreckage of the C-46 was positively identified by its USAAF serial. Unfortunately, there were no human remains in what was left of the aircraft.

Curtiss Commando 42-96721 was part of the US instigated airlift across the Himalayas, meant to provide supplies to the troops of Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek. In the period of April 1942 to November 1945, 650 thousand tons of supplies were flown to China. During this airlift, an astonishing 594 aircraft and 1659 crew members were lost!