After the normal inspection of the outside of the plane, I entered through the rear of the  C-46 and found that the plane was overloaded with too many passengers and all their gear that they had brought with them from the States.  I requested that some passengers get off with their belongings, which was accomplished.

     Walt and I went through all the pre-flight procedures, which checked out okay.  We advised the tower we were ready for take-off, and were given clearance to proceed.

     I gave it full throttle with maximum manifold pressure and rpms.

     Very shortly after we broke ground and with the landing gear up, the fuel warning light on the right engine came on and we started to lose power on the right engine.  Not having any idea what could be causing the problem and with the fear of fire in the engine, if a gasoline hose had busted or came loose, we feathered the prop, and being so close to the field, I felt we could land back at Dulag.   We were 300-400 feet in altitude and only a few miles from the air field.

     We were pulling full power on the left engine and were on the downwind leg with the field just off to the left.  Then we started to lose power in the left engine.  Since we never got much altitude, we were now flying very close to the palm trees that surrounded our field.  When we started clipping the tops of the trees, I saw an opening ahead where evidently a farmer had partially cleared the area to plant crops.  We were going down!

     I told Walt, that as soon as I yelled, to reach up and cut the power to the engine.  Just as I thought I cleared the trees, I put both my feet up on the instrument panel and pulled back on the column to bring the nose up as steep as I could.  This allowed us to land tail first. "WHOEVER" looks over dumb and lucky pilots had the tail hit a big tree stump that slowed our momentum quite a bit and then the "WHOEVER" left some trees standing that tore off both wings, which not only slowed us down, but brought us to an abrupt stop.

     Fortunately, the plane never caught on fire.   That was a primary concern of all the crew and passengers since the plane had a full load of gas.  Apparently, there was little space for fumes in the full tanks and that may have saved us from a fire.

      The passengers and our crew, consisting of an engineer and radio operator, evacuated through the rear door.  Walt and I jumped the eight to ten feet out our windows.  The casualties were minimal although there were some damaged limbs and a bad back injury.  Walt suffered a two inch gash on his forehead and I had a flap torn open on my skull that took forty-three stitches to put back together.  Also, I now had a new dimple on my cheek.

     Some interesting sidelights:  As we were going down, I instructed the crew chief to throw out all the gear that the passengers had brought on board to lighten our load.  That afternoon, and the next day, the passengers went out into the fields to work on recovering their typewriters, radios, and whatever they might find of their personal belongings.

    We were so close to the field, that mechanics from our Airdrome Squadron were quickly at the crash site and I asked one of them to call Dr. Adams, our flight surgeon, who had previously done a superb job of sewing up Lt. Tully Talbot’s nose and forehead, to come and take care of me.  Since I was now loaded with Morphine, I didn’t mind the long drive back in a Six by Six, to get sewed up by an  expert.  It also turned out to be quite a "Show and Tell" performance before a bunch of fellow pilots who were not flying that day.

     I was back flying in a very short time, but with bandages wrapped around my head.  That was a bit discouraging and alarming to some passengers that inquired of the crew chief, who that was?  And he answered "THE PILOT".