Crew: 1Lt Kyle E. McMichael (Instructor Pilot/Mission Commander), 1Lt Mike Tisik (Pilot), Maj Gerald F. Brittain (Copilot), 1Lt Joseph W. Metzler (Navigator), SSgt Clarence A. Gibson (Radio Operator), MSgt Clyde A. Streitman (Flight Engineer), TSgt Harry W. McConegley (Flight Engineer), SSgt Raymond H. Snow (Flight Engineer)

Passengers: TSgt Jack P. Faris, SSgt Robert Ahearn, SSgt Burnis T. Lively, SSgt Raymond G. Mangold, SSgt John J. McDonald, SSgt Clinton D. Tompkins, Sgt Ray L. Asel, Sgt Donald W. Dagl, Sgt Noel B. Jones, Sgt Roy F. Jones, Sgt Junior Lee Moore, Sgt Harold R. Noell, Sgt Tommy E. Rhoads, Sgt Julian C. Thomas, Cpl Albie P. Baughman, Cpl Jeff D. Johnson, Cpl Henry S. Kerehner, Cpl Raymond H. Motheny, Cpl Bernard (NMI) Portrey, Cpl Richard L. Suggs, Cpl Thomas J. Young, Pfc John A. Chalopka, Pfc Charles W. Cook, Pfc Billie C. Cummins, Pfc Francis D. Hofer, Pfc Herman L. Lawson, Pfc Loyd E. Lowry, Pfc Wilham W. Cranor, Pvt Robert M. Hiatt, Pvt Blake F. Maxwell, Pvt Robert J. Reitmeyer, Capt Frank E. Gregory, SSgt Jack E. Dickerson, Mr. Eldon V. Dolansky, Mrs. Joyce M. Espe, Victor E. Espe (infant)

On 26 January 1950, the Douglas C-54 Skymaster S/N 42-72469 disappeared going from Alaska to Montana, with 44 people aboard. The aircraft made its last radio contact two hours into its eight-hour flight. Despite one of the largest rescue efforts carried out by the US military, no trace of the aircraft has ever been found. It is considered one of the largest groups of American military personnel to ever go missing.

An hour after it failed to arrive in Montana, “Operation Mike”, named for aircraft commander First Lt. Kyle L. McMichael,^[3] was launched, a search and rescue program combining as many as 85 American and Canadian planes, in addition to 7,000 personnel, searching 350,000 square miles of the Pacific Northwest.^[4] The search was aided by the fact soldiers and equipment had already been ferried north for the upcoming Exercise Sweetbriar, a joint Canada-US war games scenario.^[6] Continuance of the operation confounded searchers, giving many false positive reports of smoke signals, garbled communications and sightings of “survivors”.

On 30 January, a C-47, Air Force serial number 45-1015 from the 57th Fighter Wing, that had been participating in the search, stalled and crashed in the McClintoc mountains near Whitehorse. Its crew members were injured, but there were no fatalities. The pilot walked 13 km to the Alaska Highway and flagged down a truck to call in support for his 5–8 crewmates.^[3]^[5]^[7]

On 2 February it was reported that two planes and two radio stations in the Yukon area had heard unintelligible radio signals but attempts to “fix” the position were fruitless. Likewise, an isolated settler had reported seeing a large plane over his cabin at Beaver Lake in interior of British Columbia located 500 miles south of the Yukon boundary-250 miles north of Vancouver and 200 miles west of the Alaska Highway air route.^[8]

On 7 February, a C-47D, 45-1037, from Eielson Air Force Base employed on the search by the 5010th Wing, crashed on a mountain slope south of Aisihik Lake. There were ten crew on board, but there were no fatalities.^[9] On 16 February, a Royal Canadian Air Force C-47, KJ-936, crashed near Snag. Again, its four crew members sustained only light injuries.^[10] Later its wreckage would be temporarily mistaken for the missing C-54.^[11]

The operation was indefinitely suspended on 14 February, as the search planes were needed to investigate the crash of a B-36 that had been carrying, and had dropped, a Fat Man type nuclear weapon, though the core of the weapon in this case was lead.^[4]

https://www.facebook.com/OperationMike/

The Loss of the Douglas C-54-D in 1950

Scores of planes have permanently gone missing since the beginnings of aviation a century ago, but almost all of these have one thing in common. They were flying over deep water or they were close to deep water when they disappeared from the radar. It makes sense: it is very difficult for a large plane to come down on land, even in the wilderness and not be found by determined searchers. This is what makes the disappearance of the Douglas C-54-D in 1950 so mysterious.

The Douglas in question was flying, 26 Jan, from Alaska to Texas (via Montana) with forty-four souls on board. The plane could have crossed into the Pacific with bad weather, but its last signal to the ground came at 15.09 when the pilot reported that it was flying over Snag, a village in the Yukon (Canada) a long way inland. The search and rescue mission that came afterwards operated in the Yukon or the badlands of northern British Columbia.

The Douglas C-54 was the classic American military transport of that period. It was almost one hundred feet long and over seventeen metric tonnes. This was not a tiny plane like the L’Oiseau Blanc lost in 1927, made, in large part, of canvas and plywood. If you came upon the C-54’s grave today or, for that matter, in a thousand years the chances are that you would notice.

And this brings us back to the question of how a plane of this size can go missing. The US military got as many as eighty-five planes – American and Canadian – in the air for Operation Mike, the search and followed up information from witnesses on the ground. But nothing came of these. 20 February, three and a half weeks later, the search was abandoned. It had taken place in horrendous weather conditions and two planes had been wrecked in the search.

To be fair to the US military Operation Mike was carried out over some of the wildest lands in the continent. If a plane comes down in a desert it can be spotted, but in the forests of the Pacific North-west a seventeen tonne plane can play at needle in a pine haystack. Still sixty years have passed… Is it perhaps, as some have suggested, in a lake. The pilot may have landed the plane on an iced over body of water and whoever survived then died in the cold that followed. The plane would have disappeared into the water once spring came.

If you lose a family member in a plane somewhere over the Pacific there is a part of you that can pretend that they might have made it to an island where they are presently raising children with a beautiful Italian air hostess. There is no such consolation for the family members of the C-54.

Read more: http://www.strangehistory.net/2013/01/11/the-loss-of-the-douglas-c-54-d-in-1950/

1950 Douglas C-54D disappearance

On 26 January 1950, the Douglas C-54 Skymaster serial number 42-72469 disappeared en route from Alaska to Montana, with 44 people aboard.^[1]^[2] The aircraft made its last radio contact two hours into its eight-hour flight. Despite one of the largest rescue efforts carried out by the US military, no trace of the aircraft has ever been found.^[2] It is considered one of the largest groups of American military personnel to ever go missing.^[3]

Flight

The aircraft was part of the First Strategic Support Squadron, Strategic Air Command. out of Biggs AFB, Texas. In addition to its eight-man crew, it was carrying 36 passengers, including two civilians: a woman and her infant son.^[4] An earlier attempt to depart had been made, but due to trouble with one of its four engines, it was delayed several hours.^[5] The flight was from Anchorage, Alaska to Great Falls, Montana; two hours after its eventual departure it reported it was on-course and had just passed over Snag, Yukon – but there were no further messages.

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Douglas C-54D Disappearance

Date: January 26, 1950

Location: Anchorage, AK

Flying, from Alaska to Texas, via Montana, with 44 souls on board, 8 crew members, and 36 passengers, including two civilians: a woman and her infant son. The aircraft, Douglas C-54 Skymaster serial number 42-72469, made its last radio contact two hours into its 8 hour flight, when the pilot reported that it was flying over Snag, a village in the Yukon of Canada, a long way inland. Despite one of the largest rescue efforts carried out by the US military, no trace of the aircraft has ever been found. It is considered one of the largest groups of American military personnel to ever go missing.The aircraft was part of the First Strategic Support Squadron, Strategic Air Command. out of Biggs AFB, TX.

It had made an initial attempt to depart, but was delayed several hours after reporting trouble with one of its four engines. The aircraft was flying from Anchorage, Alaska to Great Falls, Montana; 2 hours after its eventual departure it reported it was on course and had just passed over Snag, Yukon. There were no further messages.

An hour after it failed to show up in Montana, Operation Mike, named for aircraft commander First Lt. Kyle L. McMichael, was launched, a search and rescue program combining as many as 85 American and Canadian planes, in addition to 7,000 personnel, searching 350,000 square miles of the Pacific Northwest. The search was aided by the fact soldiers and equipment had already been ferried north for the upcoming Exercise Sweetbriar, a joint Canada/US war games scenario. However continuance of the operation also confounded searchers, giving many false positive reports of smoke signals, garbled communications and sightings of survivors.

On January 30, a C-47, Air Force serial number 45-1015, from the 57th Fighter Wing that had been participating in the search, stalled and crashed in the McClintoc mountains, its crew members were injured, but there were no fatalities. Its pilot walked 8 miles to the Alaska Highway and flagged down a truck to call in support for his 5-8 crewmates. On February 7, a C-47D, 45-1037, from Eielson Air Force Base employed on the search by the 5010th Wing, crashed on a mountain slope south of Aisihik Lake. There were 10 crew on board however there were no fatalities. On February 16, a Royal Canadian Air Force C-47, KJ-936, crashed near Snag. Again, its four crew members sustained only light injuries. Later its wreckage would be temporarily mistaken for the missing C-54.

The operation was indefinitely suspended on February 14, as the search planes were needed to investigate the crash of a B-36 that had been carrying, and had dropped its Fat Man type nuclear weapon, though the core of the weapon was lead in this case.

On February 20, the search was officially cancelled and notifications were sent to next of kin informing them that the passengers were presumed dead.