Manokwari – Sorong

On March 31, 1962 at 12:00 AM, Manokwari – Sorong experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by Royal Netherlands Air Force - Koninklijke Luchtmacht, with the event recorded near Sorong-Jefman Special Region of West Papua.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

6 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 6 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 6, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. While descending to Sorong-Jefman Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with a cloud base at 500 feet. In such conditions, the crew was unable to locate the airport and decided to turn over the area to expect weather improvement. Due top fuel shortage and as the crew was unable to locate the airfield, the captain decided to ditch the aircraft east of the airport. All six crew members were rescued while the aircraft was lost.

Aircraft reference details include registration X-3, MSN 15884/32632, year of manufacture 1945.