B-24/C-109 wreck on the Hump

Discussion about wrecks and losses as well as historic sites in the Pacific.

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Colin C Tigwell
2nd Lieutenant
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Location: Snug Tasmania
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Post by Colin C Tigwell »

I suspect that at some time, someone has tried to salvage this airplane.

In one of the photos, the centre section looks complete, but appears to be upside down.

No way that a crash would take that off as neatly as it has.

Regards

Col
Vietnam Vet and proud of it.

Higgins
Corporal
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Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:20 pm

Post by Higgins »

I've been wondering about that. This was, at one time, widely considered to be the most intact wreck on the Hump. Now it seems to be missing all sorts of pieces, and not small ones; the outer wings and the fuselage being two.

There's a first-person account of the crash and the walk out by the surviving crew members in The Saga of CNAC #53 by Fletcher Hanks. I'll post a photo from the book of how it looked.

norge
Sergeant
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Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2003 9:54 am

Post by norge »

That really amazes me that over 600 aircraft was lost flying over the hump. During Korea I flew with two enlisted pilots and the Chief told me he flew C-53s over the hump and did lose many of his buddies but he did not tell me it was that bad. After a while he was promoted to LT. and transferred to the states as an instructor in C-54s. He stayed in the Navy air reserve and when the forgotten war started he was called back in as
A Chief aviation pilot as an instructor in muti aircraft
Harry USN Combat Aircrewman

kai
Private
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Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:33 am

Post by kai »

I don't think any salvage has been attempted, but locals from Burma and Indai have been carrying parts away for a long time. The story I heard was that some burmese hunters set fire to it many years ago and that the plane came down the slope

Higgins
Corporal
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:20 pm

Photo from Fletcher Hanks' book

Post by Higgins »

Here's the long-promised photo from The Saga of CNAC #53. If you look closely, you can see that although the major parts are in approximately their correct position they don't seem to be connected very well. The wing is at an angle to the fuselage and farther back than it should be, and the tail control surfaces appear to be broken loose.

Image

BTW, the book being titled "#53" isn't a typo - it's main focus was on an expedition to locate the wreck of a different CNAC C-53, which the author did.

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