Incident Overview
Date: Monday 31 January 1944
Aircraft Type: Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express
Owner/operator: United States Army Air Force – USAAF
Registration Number: 41-23862
Location: Bome County, Nyingchi, Tibet Autonomous Region –
ÿ China
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed
Casualties: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
Component Affected: Aircraft metal and structural components of the aircraft.Aircraft metal and structural components of the aircraft.
Category: Accident
In 1993, a commercial aircraft crashed into a glacier in Tibet, resulting in the exposure of twisted metal at altitudes of around 14,000 feet. Subsequent expeditions recovered wreckage and the remains of all five crew members. A Chinese report incorrectly identified the aircraft’s number as 41-24688, which referred to a C-46.In 1993, a commercial aircraft crashed into a glacier in Tibet, resulting in the exposure of twisted metal at altitudes of around 14,000 feet. Subsequent expeditions recovered wreckage and the remains of all five crew members. A Chinese report incorrectly identified the aircraft’s number as 41-24688, which referred to a C-46.
Description
Crashed into a glacier in Tibet in heavy icing and strong winds. In 1993 the glacier melted and shifted enough to expose the twisted metal of the aircraft at around 14,000 feet. From 1993 to 2015, multiple expeditions to the accident site retrieved a few wreckage pieces and the remains of all five crew members. (Note: some Chinese reports mistook this aircraft’s number as 41-24688, which actually referred to a C-46.)
Source of Information
http://xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-10/22/c_128346671.htm, https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2015-10-22/doc-ifxiwazu5704491.shtml, http://www.chinafotobank.com/outer.do?method=getFeature&id=79561&order=name, http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/db.asp, http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=153855http://xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-10/22/c_128346671.htm, https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2015-10-22/doc-ifxiwazu5704491.shtml, http://www.chinafotobank.com/outer.do?method=getFeature&id=79561&order=name, http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/db.asp, http://airforce.togetherweserved.com/usaf/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=153855Primary Cause
Heavy icing and strong winds conditions during descent resulted in a catastrophic impact with the glacier.Heavy icing and strong winds conditions during descent resulted in a catastrophic impact with the glacier.Share on:
