Incident Overview
Description
In November 1943 the USAAF 403 Troop Carrier Group (TCG) was part of an organisation known as SCAT – South Pacific Combat Air Transport. It was based at Luganville Airport (aka Pekoa) on Espir¡tu Santo and provided an air freight and military passenger service all around the South Pacific. Douglas C-47 Skytrain 41-18675, call-sign “675-Baker-253” took off from Noumea-Tontouta Airport, New Caledonia bound for Espiritu Santo. Radio contact was established at 0810 but the aircraft failed to respond to a scheduled call at 0910. Two days later, damaged gear and some personal effects from the plane were found in Nakety Bay. A cold front had passed through the New Caledonia area in the early hours of the morning of the 23rd bringing a cloud layer at 2 to 4 thousand feet and a visibility of 4 to 6 miles, with 3 miles in heavier rain. The route was considered flyable on instruments and several aircraft flew it that day without the pilots reporting any difficulty with the weather conditions. The bodies of the 6 crew-members and 19 passengers (3 RNZAF and 16 USMC from VMTB-232) were never found.
Primary Cause
Cold FrontCold FrontShare on:
