USAAF
ATC
Stan Gajda 1980
Ed Plenty
via martincj
Pilot 1/Lt Ray Vandiver
Co-Pilot 1/Lt Melvin C Lewis
Crew Chief Sgt Milford W Lambert
Radio PFC Melvin Scharp
Passenger ?
Passenger ?
Force Landed February 26, 1942
Aircraft History
The C-53 is a militarized version of the DC-3. Assigned to Air Transport Command, Australia with tail marking 62-TG-66.
Wartime History
Force landed when
the pilot overshot Broome at
night and flew on for another 400 miles. This aircraft crashed near Varsittart Bay, about six miles south-west
of Truscott, before
the airfield was built. It
landed wheels-up in the dark in the only clear area for
50 miles. All of the crew survived. Some of the
aircraft's parts were salvaged during the war.
Wreckage
Cargo door was salvaged after the war by West Australian
Airlines - MMA (MacRobertson Miller Airlines).
References
Allied Air Transport Operations SWPA in WWII - Volume One, page 345
Thanks to Stan
Gajda and Daniel Leahy for information
C-53
Photo Archive
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