Incident Overview
Date: Friday 24 March 1944
Aircraft Type: Douglas C-53 (DC-3)
Owner/operator: China National Aviation Corporation – CNAC
Registration Number: 51
Location: Mianyang, Sichuan Province –
ÿ China
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Component Affected: Radar SystemsRadar Systems
Category: Accident
A Japanese bomber squadron, operating approximately 100 miles out of Kunming, China, lost contact with their radar due to a navigational error. The pilot, believing he was over Yunnanyi, drifted, resulting in a prolonged period of lost communication. After an hour, the radios re-engaged, but the pilot was unable to establish a fix with any stations.A Japanese bomber squadron, operating approximately 100 miles out of Kunming, China, lost contact with their radar due to a navigational error. The pilot, believing he was over Yunnanyi, drifted, resulting in a prolonged period of lost communication. After an hour, the radios re-engaged, but the pilot was unable to establish a fix with any stations.
Description
When 100 miles out of Kunming, all radios were turned off so Japanese bombers had no radio beam to home-in on. The captain thought he was holding over Yunnanyi but apparently drifted, so when the radios came on after an hour, he could not get a fix on any station. After 11 hours 25 minutes and out of fuel, the crew were still lost and decided to bail. The three crew members bailed out and survived with minimal injuries.
Primary Cause
Navigation Error ? DriftNavigation Error ? DriftShare on:
