1969 — Aug 4, US Navy C47 plane crash, Andes Mountains near Los Quenes, Chile –all 16

–16 Aviation Safety Network. USN C-47 lost, Andes Mountains, Chile, 4 August 1969.
–16 Kuhles. “C-47B #43-48368 a.k.a. BuNo 17254 Found 24 Feb 2021.” MIA Recoveries, Inc.
–16 MIA Recoveries, Inc. “Crashed Aircraft Site Report.”

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database:
“Date: Monday 4 August 1969
“Type: Douglas C-47M (DC-3)
“Operator: United States Navy
“Registration: 17254
“MSN: 25629/14184
“First flight: 1944
“Crew: Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
“Passengers: Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 12
“Total: Fatalities: 16 / Occupants: 16
….
“Location: Andes Mountains (Chile)
“Phase: En route (ENR)
“Nature: Military
“Departure airport: Santiago-Los Cerrillos Airport…Chile
“Destination airport: Buenos Aires (unknown airport)…Argentina
“Narrative:

“The airplane operated on a flight from El Belloto Naval Air Station near Vina del Mar, Chile, to Buenos Aires, Argentina. One intermediate stop had been made at Los Cerrillos Airport, Santiago, Chile, for international clearance. Last radio contact was at 17:16.

Kuhles (MIA Recoveries, Inc.), “C-47B #43-48368 a.k.a. BuNo 17254 Found 24 Feb 2021:
“This C-47 aircraft was assigned to the US Military Group – Navy Section, Chile. It was enroute from its home base at El Belloto Naval Air Station near Vino del Mar, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a stop at Los Cerrillos airport in Santiago for the necessary international clearance. It departed Los Cerrillos at 2050Z (1650/4:50 PM) on 04 Aug 1969 for Buenos Aires. There were 4 crewmembers and 12 passengers aboard. The passengers were US Navy and US Air Force personnel and some of their dependents.

“The pilot, CDR Ralph J. Touch, started filling the Flight Plan form, but there was some uncertainty as to whether to file IFR or VFR. The co-pilot, LCDR James P. Kuhn, continued filling the form and signed it and filed IFR. The Flight Plan was approved by Pudahuel Air Traffic Control (ATC) and the chosen route was for the aircraft to fly S to Curico, then SE to Cerro Planchon (mountain pass on Chile-Argentina border), then continuing SE to Malargue and then NE to Buenos Aires. The pilot was to fly at 12,000 ft. altitude until Curico, then climb to 17,000 ft.

“Weather conditions were bad, with snow, moderate turbulence up to 14,000 ft. altitude, severe turbulence above 14,000 ft. and ice formation at 5,000 ft. Wind was from the WNW at 20 knots (approx. 23 mph) below 14,000 ft. Above that altitude, the winds were 50 knots (approx. 58 mph) and possibly up to 100 knots (approx. 115 mph) to over 20,000 ft. Chief of Meteorological Station at Los Cerrillos Airport warned CDR Touch to return to Santiago if the Cordillera (Andes Mountains) was closed because of bad weather. CDR Touch answered: “No, because already I am one day late”. Note that this flight was originally planned to depart on 03 Aug, but was delayed because of bad weather.

“The aircraft reported over Angostura at 1707, flying at 12,000 ft. and estimated to reach Curico at 1733. One minute after the aircraft communicated this position, the ATC overheard part of a conversation over an open microphone in which the co-pilot was recommending to the pilot that they start climbing to a 14,000 ft. level to avoid bad weather ahead. At 1715, Santiago Center contacted the aircraft to confirm its altitude, and the aircraft acknowledged it was at 12,000 ft. This was the last contact with the aircraft. One minute later, an open microphone was heard from the aircraft for a few seconds, without sound of voice. All further contact with the aircraft was lost.

“The US Navy search for this missing aircraft spanned only 10 days, from 05 Aug 1969 to 14 Aug 1969, and was never resumed. The search was hampered by 3 to 4 meters of fresh snow, rugged terrain and severe weather conditions. A total of 162 missions with nearly 1,000 hours were flown. 972 persons assisted in the search effort, involving personnel and aircraft from the US, Chile and Argentina. The 1969 search area was divided into 5 zones, with the search concentrated in Zones 2 and 3, to the N of Curico. The USN official conclusion stated the accident was a result of poor weather conditions: “Atmospheric conditions on the Santiago – Curico – Malargue route were such that a flight was not advisable, especially for a C-47 aircraft with limited capability for crossing the Andes Mountains, and even more so if it’s considered that the minimum flight altitude on the Curico – Malargue route is 16,000 ft. and it was icing at 5,000 ft.” Dead: 16
• Pilot: CDR Ralph J. Touch, USN
• Co-Pilot: LCDR James P. Kuhn, USN
• Radioman: ATC Joe Fernandez, USN
• Aircraft Mechanic: ADRC John T. Higgins, USN
• Passenger: LCDR Harold L. Mooney, USN
• Passenger: TSgt. Robert L. Patterson, Jr., USAF
• Passenger: SSgt. Ronnie J. Ball, USAF
• Passenger: SSgt. Frank A. Homer, USAF
• Passenger: Norma R. Orcutt Ball, Civilian dependent
• Passenger: Claudine Cox Fernandez, Civilian dependent
• Passenger: Carol Homer, Civilian dependent
• Passenger: Shelby Penn Mooney, Civilian dependent
• Passenger: Esther Zuluaga Patterson, Civilian dependent
• Passenger: Elisabeth/Elizabeth Anne Smith, Civilian dependent
• Passenger: Carol Tilton, Civilian dependent
• Passenger: Norma Ann Heist Touch, Civilian dependent
C-47B #43-48368 a.k.a. BuNo 17254 Expedition Notes

“In 2019, I had been contacted by family members and aircraft accident researchers asking if I had any knowledge about this aircraft loss. I replied to them that I had done extensive mountaineering expeditions in the Andes Mountains along the Chile-Argentina border, but I didn’t have any specific knowledge about this aircraft disappearance….

“My team and I had spent weeks investigating possible crash locations along the flight path, when we came down from the mountains for a rest and checked into a rental cabin in the village of Los Quenes in Del Mauli district. The proprietor of the rental cabins expressed great interest in who we were and why we were there. She then said her brother might have valuable information for us and she would have him visit us the following day.

“The proprietor’s brother arrived at our rented cabin the following morning and told us he knew an old rancher in the town who sometimes talked about finding an aircraft wreckage in the mountains years ago while herding horses. We had this man take us to the old rancher and assist us with interviewing him. The rancher stated he came across the aircraft wreckage in the early 1970’s (probably in 1970 or 1971) while searching for a water source. He said the wreckage wasn’t there in the mid-1960’s when he last herded horses in the area. He said he was now too old and infirm to return to the mountains, but he would arrange for a younger rancher to guide us to the wreckage.

“With the capable guidance of the younger rancher and his team of pack animals, we reached the wreckage location a few days later. The aircraft ID was positively established when we found a metal panel amongst the wreckage bearing the aircraft construction number of 14184. The wreckage location was indeed on the approved flight path for BuNo 17254 and was blown just slightly off-course by the prevailing WNW winds recorded for the day of the crash. We later confirmed with the Chilean aviation authorities that they were unaware of any reported aircraft wreckages in this area, making this a new discovery. Furthermore, the Chileans stated that all known C-47 losses over Chile had since been located, with the sole exception of BuNo 17254 (until now).

“To the best of my knowledge, the US Dept of Defense has not yet sent a team to the crash site. This might be due to the election of an anti-US, leftist national government in Chile shortly after my discovery of the crash site.” (Clayton Kuhles)

MIA Recoveries, Inc. “Crashed Aircraft Site Report.”:
“Date Visited: 24 Feb 2021
“Model & Serial Number: C-47B #43-48368 a.k.a. BuNo 17254
“GPS Coordinates: S 35-07-41.15 W 70-51-31.62.
….
“Country: Chile.
“State/Province/District: Del Maule
“Nearest Town/Village: Los Quenes.
“Distance/Direction: 3-day trek SW of nearest road
“Altitude: 5,135 ft.
“Topography: Mountains
….
“Terrain Notes: Steep, rocky ravine
….
“Site Disturbance: Significant disturbance caused by hydraulic erosion, rockfalls
and possible earthquake activity.
“Aircraft ID Method: Panel with aircraft construction number 14184.
….
“Wreckage/Artifacts/ID Tags: Wreckage found scattered in ravine, partially buried under rocks
and dirt
“Human Remains: None seen by investigator
….
“Misc. Notes: Aircraft was apparently blown off-course to the E of its approved
flight path and brought down by severe icing.
“Investigator: Clayton Kuhles.”

Newspaper

Aug 5, UPI: “Santiago, Chile (UPI) – A World War II vintage U.S. Navy transport plane carrying 15 Americans and a Filipino disappeared in a storm over the four-mile-high Andes Mountains and was presumed to have crashed. Chilean authorities said today. The twin-engine propellor-driven C47, military version of the DC3, was on a nonstop 700-mile flight from Santiago to Buenos Aires Monday night when it vanished after failing to make a scheduled radio check about 100 miles south of the Chilean capital.

“A squadron of military and civilian aircraft from the United States, Argentina and Chile prepared to begin search at daybreak for the missing U.S. naval mission plane, based at Valparaiso, Chile.

“The C47 carried two four-man flight crews – one was an extra to ferry back another plane from Buenos Aires – two other Navy men, and six women dependents, including the Filipino.

“Cmdr. Ralph J. Touch, pilot of the missing C47, last radioed 15 minutes after takeoff he was at 12,000 feet, flying on instruments in a rainstorm and climbing to 17,000 feet, the altitude at which he planned to take the Malargue Pass through the Andes. It was snowing in the Andes, whose peaks soar to more than 20,000 feet, and in the pass, known as an airplane graveyard.

“Army Brig. Gen. Richard Allen, head of the U.D. Military Mission in Buenos Aires, said: ‘We don’t know for sure what happened. The plane is missing and we’re trying to track it down. That’s as far as we can go.’ Allen said the V47 was flying to Buenos Aires to undergo a routine maintenance checkup at Ezeiza Airport, outside the Argentine capital. He said it was not unusual for planes on such missions to carry nonmilitary personnel, such as dependents.

“In Santiago, today’s search plan called for a Chilean air force C47 to follow the same route as the missing plane. Two helicopters were to make low-level sorties along the route and a training plane with mounted high-power binoculars was to fly at Intermediate altitudes. Bad weather prevailed over the route today.” (UPI. “16 Missing in Andes Snow. World War II Plane.” The Daily Intelligencer, Doylestown, PA. 8-5-1969 p. 3.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database. US Navy C-47M crash, Andes Mountains, Chile, 4 August 1969. Accessed 7-17-2023 at:
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19690804-2

Kuhles, Clayton. “C-47B #43-48368 a.k.a. BuNo 17254 Found 24 Feb 2021.” MIA Recoveries, Inc. Accessed 7-17-2023 at: https://www.miarecoveries.org/c47b-43-48368/

MIA Recoveries, Inc. “Crashed Aircraft Site Report.” Accessed 7-17-2023 at: https://www.miarecoveries.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/C-47B-43-48368-BuNo-17254-Crashed-Aircraft-Site-Report.pdf

UPI. “16 Missing in Andes Snow. World War II Plane.” The Daily Intelligencer, Doylestown, PA. 8-5-1969 p. 3. Accessed 7-17-2023 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/doylestown-intelligencer-aug-04-1969-p-19/