Date:	Thursday 5 November 1942
Time:	13:00
Type:	Douglas C-53 Skytrooper (DC-3)
Owner/operator:	United States Army Air Force - USAAF
Registration:	42-15569
MSN:	7364
Year of manufacture:	1942
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage:	Unknown
Category:	Accident
Location:	east coast of Greenland -   Greenland
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Keykjavik
Destination airport:	BW-1

Narrative:
Douglas C-53 Skytrooper (DC-3) 42-15569 went down on the Greenland Ice Cap 5 Nov 1942 at approx 1300 hrs. 5 Crew members aboard, Pilot Capt. Homer C. McDowell, 2nd Lt. William L. Springer, S/Sgt. E. L. Monahan, Pvt. William W. Everett, Pvt. Thurman Johannessen.
Stationed at PIAAF, Presque, Maine, USA
Damage: Unknown
Cleared from: Reykjavik 0834 GMT
To: BW-1
Reykjavik intercepted a signal from the C-53 saying they were down. Instructions were given to pop flares at designated times. Visuals of flares detected. C-53 batteries die, no more communication from crew. B-17 PN9E is searching for downed C-53, but goes down 9 Nov 1942. All aboard initially survive crash. 30 Nov 1942, crew of C-53 are listed as perished, as they had no provisions to sustain life. B-17 PN9E Radioman Cpl. Loren Howarth builds a radio 13 days after the crash, an SOS signal is intercepted. Col. Bernt Balchen spots the crashed B-17. Weather conditions prevent rescue attempts, no landing possible, covered with crevasses. US Cutter Northland sends out a Grumman Duck J2F-4 with Pilot Lt. John Pritchard and PFC Radioman Benjamin Bottoms to rescue 2 from B-17. They are successful and return the men to the US Cutter Northland. A second attempt at rescue is undertaken. Pritchard and Bottoms rescue Cpl. Loren Howarth. 9 minutes into the return to US Cutter Northland, they crash. All 3 aboard perished. The pilot of the B-17 PN9E and 1 crew member is rescued 6th April 1943 by Col. Bernt Balchen after 5 months stranded on the Ice Cap.

Crash report C-53, Log books, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency records, family member of PN9E pilot, Jennifer Lehr
Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research (AAIR)
Frozen in Time / Mitchell Zuckoff

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
26-Aug-2023 07:24	harro	Added
26-Aug-2023 07:29	harro	Updated
29-Aug-2023 06:10	J.LehrFAVF	Updated