Crashed Aircrafts and Bodies Still Laying and Some Recovered

For nearly six decades, the wreckage of close to 400 US transport aircraft who crashed over the Hump in Himalayas lay undisturbed in the remote jungles of Arunachala Pradesh. Back in the United States, thousands of relatives had resigned themselves to the ‘Missing in Action’ tag which their government gave the young aircrews. But things changed once Clayton Kuhles an US explorer in hills landed in the remote region in 2002. Totally self-funded Kuhles has found about two dozen plane crashes over the “Hump” from World War II, helping account for the remains of American casualties that have been missing in the eastern Himalayas till date.

In five expeditions in as many years, this mountaineer from US has trekked all his way through the leech-infested jungles of Arunachal Pradesh to rediscover the remains of crashed US Air Force aircraft, bringing closure to dozens of families. He taps into his contacts in the hill tribes and local hunters for sightings of crash remains. He has discovered the remains of many crashed aircrafts so far. On his return, he makes it a point to personally look up the relatives of the crashed crew— each aircraft carried over six personnel—giving them any personal effects he finds at the crash site.

He has discovered the remains of many crashed aircrafts so far. On his return, he makes it a point to personally look up the relatives of the crashed crew

Following Kuhles efforts, US teams had landed in Arunachal Pradesh had also landed in Arunachala Pradesh, nearly five years after he reported his findings. The downed warplane Kuhles found recently was one of about 600 that crashed along what’s known as “the Hump Route.” “It was also called the Aluminum Trail because if you were flying over the Himalayas on the routes that these planes covered, there were so many crashes that occurred, you could see wings and fuselages and tail pieces and other debris reflecting the sunlight,” he said.

Défense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) of US said it has three teams actively working in the region to recover remains, but there are still hundreds of undiscovered wrecks. Kuhles said most of the crashes he has found have not yet been excavated by the government. DPAA said its efforts in the area are hampered by the “austere, remote and dangerous” terrain and the “high cost of deploying teams.” Sears, the historian, said there may be another issue: the apathy of time. China then alley now enemy no one of US claims Arunachala Pradesh as its own and the border is not clearly demarcated leading to occasional flare ups even now.

Source: Himalayan News Chronicle