59

On November 19, 1943 at 12:00 AM, 59 experienced a crash involving Douglas C-53 Skytrooper (DC-3), operated by China National Aviation Corporation - CNAC, with the event recorded near Kunming Yunnan.

The flight was categorized as cargo and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 2 fatalities were recorded, 1 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 66.7%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. The crew was performing a cargo flight with a load of bank notes. On final approach to Kunming, the visibility was low due to heavy rain falls and a cloud layer at 100 feet. The aircraft hit the ground hundreds yards short of runway, broke into several pieces and burned. The copilot was injured while both other occupants were killed. Thousands of bank notes were found on a large area.

Aircraft reference details include registration 59, MSN 7406, year of manufacture 1942.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 25.0899°, 102.9152°.