Site Near Peip'ing, China Crew 4 Date 12 October 1945 Survivor 0 Location China | Passengers 55 Survivors 0 Total fatalities 59 (all) Passenger count 55 | |
Summary Struck radio antenna on approach in poor weather conditions Aircraft type Curtiss C-46F-1-CU Commando Operator United States Army Air Forces Similar USAAF Boeing B‑17 cras, 1945 Australian National, Honolulu Clipper, B‑25 Empire State Buil, Flight 19 | ||
The 1945 Peip'ing Curtiss C-46 Commando crash occurred on October 12, 1945, when a USAAF Curtiss C-46 Commando aircraft crashed near Nanyuan Airport in Peip'ing (now known as Beijing) while en route to there from Hankou (now part of Wuhan). All 59 people on board perished. It was the deadliest plane crash in 1945 and, at the time it occurred, the deadliest one on the soil of the Republic of China. The crash also is the worst ever involving the C-46.
On the day of the accident, the aircraft, carrying 55 Chinese soldiers and a crew of four, neared Peip'ing in unfavorable overcast weather conditions. In addition, Nanyuan Airport was lacking in radio beacons, forcing the crew to rely on a commercial broadcasting station to navigate. On approach, the C-46 struck the station's radio antenna and crashed, killing all aboard.