Date:	Thursday 11 March 1943
Time:
Type:	Douglas C-53-DO (DC-3)
Owner/operator:	China National Aviation Corporation - CNAC
Registration:	53
MSN:	4904
Year of manufacture:	1942
Engine model:	P&W R-1830-92
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	Lushui County-Level City, Nujiang Prefecture, Yunnan Province -   China
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	Kunming-Wujiaba Airfield (KMG/ZPPP)
Destination airport:	Assam

Narrative:
CNAC's Douglas C-53 "53" departed Kunming for a supply run over the Himalayas together with three other aircraft. It was snowing and there was a solid overcast at 10,500 feet which had violent turbulence and severe icing. Because of those dangerous conditions, the pilots stayed underneath the clouds and flew the passes. As they went through the lowest pass, a sudden down-draft forced the pilots to apply full power and for maximum climb. For #53, it was too late. The plane's propellers started cutting the tops of the trees and the plane crashed just short of the border with Burma.

In June 1996, a Burmese villager hunting in the remote forest made the first discovery of the wreckage of this Douglas and notified Burmese authorities. The crash site was next to the Burmese-Chinese border, 140 meters inside Chinese territory; therefore, Chinese government took charge in December 1996. A Chinese expedition reached the wreckage in June 1997. The wreckage was rather intact and the crash was considered largely survivable. However, no trace of the occupants could be found around the aircraft. The occupants were presumed dead.
The wreckage of this Douglas was retrieved in 1998 and restored. It is currently on display at a local museum. A young Chinese man died during the salvage operation.

CNAC.org
Liu, X. 2015. Flying the Hump. Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China: Guangxi Normal University Press. (in Chinese)
https://www.uswarmemorials.org/html/monument_details.php?SiteID=497&MemID=767
https://www.cnac.org/accident016.htm
https://www.caa1993.org.cn/content/20/2584.shtml
https://www.ls.gov.cn/2024/0619/42239.html
https://www.chinaflagnet.com/post.html?id=63ac29830723eae9634f0a47
https://www.yndaily.com/html/2015/yunshijue_0717/20260.html
http://www.lvli.com/jd/yunnan/nj408/sh2505/10927.html

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
11-Mar-2025 13:49	ASN	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Category, ]