1944 Mull of Galloway Douglas C-47 crash
United States Army Air Forces Douglas C-47A Skytrain · Controlled flight into terrain due to poor visibility
From RAF Merryfield, Somerset to New York City, New York
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 22 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 22
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Douglas C-47A Skytrain
- Aircraft type
- Douglas C-47
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 42-93038
- Operator
- United States Army Air Forces
- Onboard fatalities
- 22
- Route
- From RAF Merryfield, SomersetTo New York City, New York
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1944 Mull of Galloway Douglas C-47 crash occurred on 27 July 1944, when a Douglas C-47 Skytrain (military version of the DC-3), serial number 42-93038, crashed into cliffs at the Mull of Galloway in Wigtownshire, Scotland. All 22 people on board were killed.
Accident
On 27 July 1944, C-47A 42-93038 departed Filton near Bristol, England, transporting 17 wounded American servicemen from the Normandy landings and 5 crew members. The aircraft was en route to Prestwick, Scotland, as part of a multi-leg journey to the United States, which included stops in Iceland, Greenland, Canada, and Boston.
Flying in poor visibility, the C-47 was one of two aircraft traveling together. The lead aircraft, 42-93038, maintained low altitude so that the trailing plane could stay in visual contact. As it neared the Scottish mainland, the aircraft flew toward the Mull of Galloway, a headland with cliffs rising over 400 feet (120 m). The pilots, unaware of their proximity to the terrain due to fog and low visibility, attempted to gain altitude too late.
The plane struck the cliffs just below the crest, about six feet short of clearing the top, and crashed, killing everyone on board.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1944 Mull of Galloway Douglas C-47 crash” (revision 1339307096, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1944 Mull of Galloway Douglas C-47 crash
- Revision
- 1339307096 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q134779771
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1944 Mull of Galloway Douglas C-47 crash" (page 80042483, revision 1339307096)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.