A Commando Entombed on Mount Rainier

On December 10, 1946, 32 Marines were lost in the deadliest aviation accident in history on Mount Rainier in Washington state. They, and the aircraft, are still there.

Meg Godlewski

Friday, December 10, 2021 at 09:52 AM ET

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A Curtis R5C "Commando" in flight. Courtesy: U.S. Air Force

Key Takeaways:

A Curtiss Commando R5C, carrying 32 Marines and crew, disappeared on December 10, 1946, during a fierce winter storm while flying from San Diego to Seattle.
The wreckage was discovered seven months later on Mount Rainier's South Tahoma Glacier, revealing the aircraft had crashed into the mountain at high speed.
Due to the extreme dangers and unstable conditions of the glacier, recovery efforts for the remains were abandoned at the families' request, leaving the 32 men entombed in the ice and snow on the mountain to this day.

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It’s been 75 years since a Curtiss Commando R5C, military identification No. 39528, disappeared while on a flight from San Diego, California, to Seattle, Washington. The morning of December 10, 1946, the aircraft—part of a flight of six—departed from El Toro Marine Air Station near San Diego. The destination was Naval Air Station Seattle, located at Sand Point on the west side of Lake Washington. There were a total of 32 men on board the aircraft.

They never made it, and 75 years later, they still haven’t moved from where they were found.