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From The Dragon's Wings, page 158 "On November 17, 'plane number 60, with Captain Dean, copilot Browne, and radio operator K.L.Yang, disappeared on a flight between Kunming and Dinjan." From Fletcher "Christy" Hanks, "WHEN AND HOW THE CNAC CRASHES HAPPENED ON THE HUMP AND ITS ENVIRONS DURING WWII" (hand-dated 5/4/02) John J. Dean, co-pilot J.S. Brown(e), 11/17/42, C-47 #60. First crash of a C-47. All 3 killed including K.L. Yang, Chinese radio operator. On a routine flight from Kunming to Dinjan, the plane and crew disappeared. Wreckage never found. Source: Aluminum Trail And this additional note from Fletcher... April 21, 2004 Tom, John Dean with copilot Jim Brown was flying the first CNAC plane with a high blower, it was also the first CNAC C-47. They left Kunming in perfect weather and it is believed they crashed east of the Salween as there was no position filed by the radio operator. It is speculated that the high blower caught on fire and the plane exploded. Christy See booksetc01.htm for details about this and other related books. 
NOTE: Sources are not in agreement as to who the radio operator was on this flight. But, as far as we can determine the radio operator was K.L. Yang. October 8, 2011 C/E Names of CNAC#60 aircrew & E translation of CNAC#60 final moments * adopted from P.151 of LiuXT's book "Flying the Hump" and corrected by Diego about the posts of captain and copilot 机长 约翰•约瑟夫•迪恩 captain J.J.Dean (John Joseph Dean) 副驾驶 詹姆斯•S•布朗 copilot J.S.Browne (James S. Browne) 飞行报务员 杨光浏 radio operator K.L.Yang (Yang, GuangLiu) (1942年)11月17日，由机长迪恩（J.J.Dean）、副驾驶布朗（J.S.Browne）、报务员杨光浏执飞的“中航”C-53（60号）在昆明起飞一小时后，还向地面发来一切正常,即将跨越"横断山脉"的电报，之后，再就杳无音信。 后来查到，设在云南驿的导航台曾收到过杨光浏最后一封电报，称之遇到恶劣天气，正打开舱门抛卸……，电波戛然中断。 徐承基老人说，报务员杨光浏是想告诉地面，飞机正在被强气流往下压。肯定是为了减重，机组打开舱门准备往外抛卸载重，结果还没来得及就……惨啊，到现在，这么多年过去了，也搞不清他们坠机具体方位，估计又是在横断大山那一带，尸骨全扔在那个冰天雪地里了。 On Nov.17 1942, after the CNAC#60 (C-53), flew by captain J.J.Dean, copilot J.S.Browne and radio operator K.L.Yang, took off from KunMing for one hour, it sent a telegram back to the base saying everthing was normal and was going to fly over Hengduan Mountain range very soon. Then, no more message. Afterwards people found out that the navigation station located in YunNanYi received K.L.Yang's final telegram saying that they met abominable weather and was opening the cabin door to throw out the cargo..., abruptly the radio frequency disappeared. Mr. Xu ChengJi (*) said, K.L. Yang was trying to tell the aircraft was pressed down by strong air flow that the aircrew had to throw away the cargo to reduce weight. However it was too late... Miserably, after so many years the specific location of the plane crash has not been identified so far. Probably their bodies were thrown into the world of ice and snow in the Hengduan Mountains. (*)translator note: Xu ChengJi is another CNAC radio operator who was interviewed by Liu XT about the above story a couple of years ago before Xu passed away. Liu XT is trying to contact with Xu's son to see if the son can provide more clues of K.L.Yang but uncertain if Xu's son knows much.  or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distribution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |