1945 RAAF Douglas C-47 disappearance: Difference between revisions
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[https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/c-47/A65-83.html RAAF ambulance aircraft A65-83] (C47-CIZ) crashed on or near an island in Timor area of the Banda Sea during a storm on 19 December 1945. |
[https://pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/c-47/A65-83.html RAAF ambulance aircraft A65-83] (C47-CIZ) crashed on or near an island in Timor area of the Banda Sea during a storm on 19 December 1945. |
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Build by Douglas, the Dakota transport plane had been assigned to the RAAF in March 1945 with the call sign VH-CIZ and assigned to 35 Squadron as an air ambulance. |
Build by Douglas, the Dakota DC3 transport plane had been assigned to the RAAF in March 1945 with the call sign VH-CIZ and assigned to 35 Squadron as an air ambulance. |
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The aircraft departed from Morotai and flew to Ambon en route to Darwin, piloted by Pilot Officer Francis Robinson. It left Ambon at 10.40AM and, about an hour into the flight, indicated that it wished to place to message. Darwin Aeradio asked the plane to "go ahead" but no response was received. |
The aircraft departed from Morotai and flew to Ambon en route to Darwin, piloted by Pilot Officer Francis Robinson. It left Ambon at 10.40AM and, about an hour into the flight, [https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19451219-0 indicated that it wished to place to message]. Darwin Aeradio asked the plane to "go ahead" but no response was received. |
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The following day, a message from the plane confirming that all 22 passengers and 4 crew were alive was picked up and a second, garbled message, which included the Dakota’s call sign CIZ, was also intercepted. Two days after that, a civilian engineer reported picking up a final message stating “Darwin from Timor... waiting to be picked up”. |
The following day, a message from the plane confirming that all 22 passengers and 4 crew were alive was picked up and a second, garbled message, which included the Dakota’s call sign CIZ, was also intercepted. Two days after that, a civilian engineer reported picking up a final message stating “Darwin from Timor... waiting to be picked up”. |
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Revision as of 10:23, 7 January 2021
RAAF ambulance aircraft A65-83 (C47-CIZ) crashed on or near an island in Timor area of the Banda Sea during a storm on 19 December 1945.
Build by Douglas, the Dakota DC3 transport plane had been assigned to the RAAF in March 1945 with the call sign VH-CIZ and assigned to 35 Squadron as an air ambulance.
The aircraft departed from Morotai and flew to Ambon en route to Darwin, piloted by Pilot Officer Francis Robinson. It left Ambon at 10.40AM and, about an hour into the flight, indicated that it wished to place to message. Darwin Aeradio asked the plane to "go ahead" but no response was received.
The following day, a message from the plane confirming that all 22 passengers and 4 crew were alive was picked up and a second, garbled message, which included the Dakota’s call sign CIZ, was also intercepted. Two days after that, a civilian engineer reported picking up a final message stating “Darwin from Timor... waiting to be picked up”.
Unfortunately search efforts at the time proved fruitless and no trace of the plane or those it carried has been found. Without a precise crash site to investigate, the Australian Defence Force have refused to fund a search for the remains, although private efforts to undertake a search continue.