C-46 Plane Crash Site

Trail Overview

Near Beaver Mountain Ski Resort begins a route that hugs the outline of Beaver Creek. Near the top of the canyon, it swings out southeasterly by Beaver Creek Campground and then winds up a short canyon trail to the location where a C-46 carrying 37 servicemen and 3 crew members returning from the Korean War tragically crashed on January 6th, 1953. There is a memorial plaque, an informational board, and a place to drop any pieces of wreckage that you discover in the area.

Photos of C-46 Plane Crash Site

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Difficulty

Most of the trail is smooth gravel and dirt. Some spots are rocky and rutted. There are also a few mud holes that vary in depth depending on the time of year and the most recent rain storm.

History

Around 4:12 a.m. on January 6th, 1953, a C-46 transport plane on its way from Seattle to Ft. Jackson, South Carolina, crashed into the hillside of Pat Hollow in the Wasatch Mountains near the Utah-Idaho border, eight miles west of the small town of Fish Haven, Idaho. Because of the way the military boarded the returning flights in alphabetical order, all of the servicemen had last names that began with H, J, or K. There were 37 servicemen and 3 crew members, and their baggage was on board. The servicemen were returning home from fighting in Korea. They had survived the horrors of war and were going home. The C-46, nicknamed "Commando", was loaded 400 lbs above its maximum weight, but had radioed to the Malad Idaho airport that the flight was normal and they were continuing on to Cheyenne, Wyoming, to refuel. However, the aircraft was probably brought down by iced wings, exacerbated by the overloaded cargo. The wreck was found five days later, but no survivors were found. The wreckage sat under military guard until June 20 when recovery operations were able to make it into the site. A monument on the crash site at Pat Hollow was dedicated on September 23rd, 1967, in order to honor these 37 veterans who were returning home to families, many of whom were eager to celebrate the recent holidays and give them gifts that they had been saving.

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