During the middle to late 1940's, my grandparents, Bus and Jean Loane, lived in Shang-hai, China. Bus was pilot for the Flying Tigers and CNAC (which were flying divisions in China). Because of this job, they had to live over there for almost five years. This was a memorable time in my grandmother's life, because many things happened for her. Besides just living in China, she went on the "hump" trip over the Himalayas (that my grandfather flew) from Calcutta, India. She also had my dad and my uncle over in China. Just being the wife of a pilot was exciting and sometimes stressful enough. But she also experienced some not-so-memorable moments, too, like plane crashes. And although Bus wasn't on any of those planes that crashed, his friends - people that he knew - were. Here, Jean describes a Christmas night in Shang-hai, China at Lung Wa airport when all the planes couldn't land due to the heavy fog and poor radar instruments.
Keveney Loane
The fog had set in at the airport, and it was before there were any kind of radar instruments to help guide the planes in. Those planes never should have set off in the first place, the fog was so bad.
All these planes were circling and circling and circling in the sky and they were trying to land. I'll never forget because you could hear the hum of the engines all around.
I remember hearing about these pilots who were having trouble. We were at some sort of Christmas gathering. All the pilots went so they could try to talk them in but they (the pilots) couldn't see anything, the fog was so dense.
Bus knew all the pilots that were flying. I knew of them. Some made it, many didn't. Of course, I didn't see it, but I know it was a pretty gruesome sight at all the crashes.
I remember Bus hurt his back trying to pick up a wing of a plane looking for any survivors in the crashes.
It was Christmas Day, so they called it Black Christmas.
Jean Loane
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