Status: | |
Date: | Sunday 17 September 1944 |
Type: | Douglas C-47A-65-DL (DC-3) |
Operator: | United States Army Air Force - USAAF |
Registration: | 42-100517 |
MSN: | 18980 |
First flight: | 1943 |
Crew: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0 |
Total: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
Aircraft damage: | Damaged beyond repair |
Location: | 60 km (37.5 mls) NW off Westkapelle, the Netherlands [North Sea] ( Atlantic Ocean)
|
Phase: | En route (ENR) |
Nature: | Military |
Departure airport: | ? |
Destination airport: | ? |
Narrative:A C-47A was operating on a paradrop mission over the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden. All twelve paratroopers and four parapacks were dropped near the drop zone. Near Tilburg another airplane, reportedly USAAF Douglas C-47A 42-100965 (msn 19428), crashed into the rear of 42-100517. The right hand prop and gear case were torn off. The roof was also torn off from the pilot's bulkhead to the rear. The airplane continued on one engine, being hit by flak on several occasions as it continued down the Schelde estuary towards the North Sea. Flying at a low altitude over the sea, the pilot got vectors from a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt pilot and continued on a 230-degree heading. After spotting an air-sea rescue service launch the pilot decided to ditch the plane.
Sources:
» The Douglas DC-1/DC-2/DC-3 - the first seventy years / J.M. Gradidge
» Valor Without Arms: A History of the 316th Troop Carrier Group, 1942-1945 / Michael N. Ingrisano, Jr
Photos
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.