What happened
On an unrecorded date in 1945, a military transport aircraft departed Dutch Harbor bound for Kodiak. While cruising at an altitude of 6,000 feet in marginal weather conditions, the airplane impacted the slope of a mountain situated between Mt Martin and Becharof Lake. The impact resulted in the deaths of all eight crew members on board.
Because the aircraft failed to arrive at its destination, search and rescue operations were initiated. These efforts continued for several weeks but were eventually abandoned after no trace of the airplane or the crew could be located. The wreckage was finally discovered on 25 June 1945, during which time eight mail bags were recovered from the site.
Findings
The official investigation determined that the accident resulted from controlled flight into terrain. The specific contributing factors related to the marginal weather conditions and the mountainous terrain between Mt Martin and Becharof Lake were central to the sequence of events leading to the impact.