More than 71 years ago, on Jan. 26, 1950, U.S. Air Force Douglas C-54D Skymaster Serial 42-72469 went missing on a flight between Anchorage/Elmendorf, Alaska, and Great Falls, Mont. Two hours into the flight, while crossing the Yukon-British Columbia border, the last contact with the plane was in a radio position report received at 1:14 p.m. This report stated that the aircraft had passed over Snag, Yukon Territory, and five minutes later was expected to be over Aisihik.
Nothing more was heard from the military transport. The four-engine aircraft, carrying 41 military personnel and three civilians, including an expectant woman and her infant son, had simply disappeared without a trace.
Since the C-54, the military version of the Douglas DC-4, was still unreported after its fuel supply was exhausted, an extensive organized aerial search was instituted, combining the joint efforts of the United States and Royal Canadian air forces. The search, which encompassed approximately 871,000 square miles and proved fruitless, was suspended Feb. 20, 1950.
