1951 Atlantic C-124 disappearance
Limestone Air Force Base, Limestone, Maine, U.S. | |
Destination | RAF Station Mildenhall, Suffolk, England, U.K. |
---|---|
Passengers | 44 |
Crew | 9 |
Fatalities | 53 |
Survivors | 0 |
The 1951 Atlantic C-124 disappearance involved a
Flight
The transport was on a military flight from
A Boeing B-29 Superfortress from the 509th Bomb Wing Detachment was en route from RAF Lakenheath with the intention of joining up with the stricken aircraft and escorting it to the nearest landing site. When the B-29 arrived at the ditching position, the crew spotted the survivors in rafts and flares.[3] After the location was reported, the B-29 reached its minimum fuel required for safe landing and had to return to base. When Casco arrived at the ditching point on 24 March, the men had disappeared. Casco was later joined by British planes, weather ships, a submarine, and several warships, including the USS Coral Sea, which arrived at the crash site over 19 hours later, on Sunday, 25 March. The aircraft, along with its passengers and crew, were gone. All that was found was some charred plywood and a briefcase.[3] The survivors' bodies were never found. Overall, the fate of the crashed C-124 and its 53 occupants remains undetermined.[2] James Hopkins, Jr., Aircraft Commander on Big Stink (the third aircraft on the August 1945 Nagasaki Atomic Bombing mission), was amongst those on board.
Investigation
A copy of the Air Force official report into the crash was provided to the
Possible Soviet involvement
The passengers included Brig. Gen. Paul Thomas Cullen, vice commander of 2nd Air Force and commander of 7th Air Division, and other senior officers. Soviet vessels were active in the area. This fact, combined with the possibility of sabotage, the strategic value of the passengers, the potential distressed note recovered, and the knowledge that the evacuation from the airplane into safety rafts was a success has led some to speculate on potential Soviet involvement.[4]
Burials
In 2012, more than 50 years after the disappearance of all personnel on board the plane, two men from the crash were granted graves at the Arlington National Cemetery.[5][6][7]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
- ^ a b c Andrew, John (26 March 2011). "Plane's 1951 disappearance still a mystery". Air Force Times. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
- ^ a b c "Last Flight, The Missing Airmen, March 1951". Walker Aviation Museum. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
- ^ a b c "Mystery flight survivors seek answers". Shreveport Times. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- ^ "Jon Mark Beilue: Man gets military funeral 61 years after death". Amarillo Globe News. 5 May 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
- ^ Rafferty, Lawrence (1 April 2012). "MK 269". JONATHAN TURLEY. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
- ^ Synett, Lawerence (20 April 2012). "Air Force captain who disappeared on mission in 1951 gets a marker at Arlington National Cemetery". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
External links
- "Globemaster Lost" the news report as it appeared in Flight