China National Aviation Corporation Flight 81
Douglas C-47 Skytrain · Controlled flight into terrain
From Xichang Qingshan Airport (XIC) to San Hu Pa Airfield, Chongqing, Republic of China
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
- 31 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
- Airline
Douglas C-47 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
- Unknown
- Operator
- China National Aviation
- Onboard fatalities
- 31
- Route
- From Xichang Qingshan Airport (XIC)To San Hu Pa Airfield, Chongqing, Republic of China
Approximate · Estimated position: Xichang, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
China National Aviation Corporation Flight 81 was a fatal aviation accident that occurred on 20 September 1946 near Xichang in Xikang Province, China operated by China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC). The aircraft lost contact shortly after takeoff and was over three weeks later confirmed to have crashed into the Luoji Shan Mountains.
All 28 passengers and 3 crew members on board were killed. The accident site was located in a Lisu ethnic minority area. Their bodies and personal belongings were looted by local residents. It was hard to locate, so China Airlines offered a reward for help. However, the local people deliberately misled and obstructed the claim including attacking search teams, and the plane crashed was not confirmed until October 12.
Flight details
On 20 September 1946 at 13:45, Flight 81, operated by China National Aviation Corporation, departed from Xichang en route to Kunming, with a scheduled continuation to Chongqing. At 14:07, about twenty minutes after departure, the communication with the aircraft was lost due to bad weather conditions.
Text from the Wikipedia article “China National Aviation Corporation Flight 81” (revision 1344687957, 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: China National Aviation Corporation Flight 81
- Revision
- 1344687957 · 2026-03-21 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q124309195
- 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 "China National Aviation Corporation Flight 81" (page 82737358, revision 1344687957)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- 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.