Date & Time:
Jan 3, 1944 at 0029 LT
Type of aircraft:
Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)
Operator:
Registration:
42-92042
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Dunnellon AFB - Fort Benning AFB
MSN:
11799
YOM:
1943
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
1
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
5
Circumstances:
Aircraft left Dunnellon AFB, Florida, at 1715LT bound for Fort Benning-Lawson, Georgia, with another USAF C-47, for a training mission. En route, weather conditions worsened and as the first aircraft landed safely at 1917LT, the crew of the second aircraft lost his orientation. Due to poor weather conditions, the authorities of Fort Benning-Lawson AFB decided to close all runways to traffic at 1930LT. For more than two hours, crew maintained radio contact with Atlanta ATC until the aircraft disappeared at 0029LT. SAR operations found the wreckage and the dead bodies of all five occupants on the next morning in a hilly area located some 5 miles northeast of Macon.
