06 Sep 1942: RTAF Ki-21 crashed into mountain near Kunming; pilot, crew killed (T04)

06 Sep 1942:1 an RTAF No. 62 Squadron Ki-21 Heavy Bomber, No. 6/84, home based at Ko Kha Airfield, 13 km southwest of Lampang, Thailand, flew reconnaissance over Shan State, including adjacent areas in western Yunnan, China, and hit a mountain ridge near Lishanxiang,2 (Google Maps link) about 100 km south of Kunming, Yunnan, killing all crew members. Additional details are very sketchy.34

References:

  • ประว้ติกองท้พอากาส ในสงครามมหาเอเชียบูรพา ระหว่าง พ.ศ.-๒๔๘๔-๒๔๘๘  (นครราชสีมา: สมบูรณ์การพิมพ์, พ.ศ.๒๕๖๔) [History of the Royal Thai Air Force during the Great East Asia War, 1941-1945 (Nakhon Ratchasima: Somboon Printing, 2021)], p 120:

Details as noted in first paragraph.

  • From ผลปืนหลัง สรินร์ จนทนแดง,5 [Rear Gunner by Lt Col Surin Jandaeng], p 297 :

[On 06 Sep 1942] Sengai Kiyu 6 (RTAF Ki-21) took off around 0630 hours from Ko Kha to fly reconnaissance over Kengtung, Chiang Rung, Mong Ma, and Mong Lem. The station lost radio contact with the plane; Ko Kha Station queried Chiang Rai Station which reported similarly no contact, and that they were experiencing local conditions of heavy rain and poor visibility.

[On 07 Sep 1942] Squadron Leader 62 ordered us to use Nakajima 3 to search for [the missing RTAF Ki-21]. Flt Lt Sawang Pattong as pilot, Flt Lt Bua Sirisap as navigator, and I spent six hours searching, but were unable to find anything, so we returned. That evening we learned that Kunming Radio had announced that Sengai Kiyu 6 had crashed into a cliff in Lishanxiang, 100 km south of Kunming.

During the Army’s advance into Burma, the Ki-21s and the Martin 139Ws flew bombing missions over the Shan state. They were usually escorted by the Nakajima Ki-27bs of the Foong Bin 16. The Ki-21s were based at Ko Kha AB at Lampang. As well as bombing missions, reconnaissance missions were flown along the Thai/Burmese border and over Yunnan province in China. These missions were shared with the Ki-30s, and flown by single aircraft. One Ki-21 was written off on September 6, 1942, after having crashed into a mountain while returning from a reconnaissance sortie over Kengtung.

Date: late 1942
Type: Mitsubishi Ki-21
Operator: Thai AF
Serial: (blank)
Location & Details: Crashed into mountain during severe weather whilst returning from a reconnaissance mission over Kengtung

  • The loss is not mentioned by Shores,6 Umemoto,7 or Young.8 This may have been due at least in part to the crash having occurred outside Burma and Thailand.

The crash site being in a rather remote area of China — an enemy of Thailand at the time, it is assumed never to have been investigated nor remains recovered.

Major Revisions List
Rev
Date
Description
0
2026 Jul 24
 First published on Internet

Last Updated on 1 September 2026

  1. A date of 07 Aug 1942 has also been suggested by Sakpinit Promthep as a possible alternative.[↩]
  2. N24°03.85 E102°45.22[↩]
  3. Map extracted from Google Maps, with annotations by author using Microsoft Publisher. It traces the intended flight path through Kengtung and Chiang Rung, but the two subsequent destinations named, Mong Ma and Mong Lem, at least as transliterated, don’t appear in contemporary maps on the way to the vicinity of Kunming.[↩]
  4. Photo from Wikipedia: 浜松で撮影された九七式重爆撃機 (offsite link).[↩]
  5. ผลปืนหลัง สรินร์ จนทนแดง (ISBN 942-83350-27-4) [Rear Gunner by Lt Col Surin Jandaeng] (excerpts provided by Sakpinit Promthep email of 1206 26 Sep 2020; my ref: \02500 Tango\_Crash sites N TH for Tango\DETAIL SHEETS\T420807 Shan State [T03]\20200926_114409.jpg, _114420, _114433, and _115001) [↩]
  6. Shores, Christopher et al, Bloody Shambles, vols 1 and 2 (London: Grub Street, 1992 and 1996[↩]
  7. 梅本弘,ビルマ航空戦・上 (東京:大日本印刷株, 2002) [Umemoto, Hiroshi, Air War in Burma, vol 1 (Tokyo: Dai Nippon, 2002) [↩]
  8. Young, Edward, Aerial Nationalism (Washington: Smithsonian, 1995) [↩]
Back To Top
Translate »