PETALING JAYA, Nov 6 — The remains of three airmen of an American Dakota C-47B cargo plane which crashed on Gunung Bubu, Perak, during World War II were finally sent home yesterday.

Deputy Defence Minister Datuk Mohd Johari Baharom and US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter witnessed the handing over of the remains at the Royal Malaysian Air Force base in Subang.

Johari said the remains of pilot Judson B. Baskett, co-pilot William H. Myers and radio operator Donald E. Jones were retrieved under Ops Gangga, which in which personnel from the Defence Ministry, armed forces and the US Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) took part.

“The plane had taken off from Singapore in rainy weather heading to Butterworth on Nov 27, 1945, and crashed on the slopes of Gunung Bubu in Perak,” he said.

“Initially, the flight crew of the cargo plane had been classified as missing in action (MIA) after a failed search operation by the US Army Airforce and Royal Air Force.”

On November 28, 1946, Baskett, Myers and Jones were declared killed in action and were accorded recognition at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

In 1966, the cargo plane’s tail section was spotted from the air but no further action was taken until 2009 when another group of local people found the plane and notified the authorities, who then notified the US embassy.

The joint POW/MIA Accounting Command confirmed the location of the aircraft on Oct 14, 2009, and on July 27 this year, Ops Gangga set up a tactical headquarters at SMK Raja Shariman in Beruas, Perak.

At the same time, another team was at the crash site to set up the excavation camp and a helicopter landing site to allow the main team to enter the area to carry out the rescue excavation work.

Johari said it was difficult to find the remains of the crew because of the acidity of the soil at the crash site that was substantially high, making the decaying process faster.

“However, the excavation team managed to find the remnants of dentures that belonged to the pilot. At the same time, the team found some items belonging to the co-pilot and the radio operator,” he said.

During the excavation, the team also found sunglasses, coins, lighters, buttons, film canisters and other items.

The items were also sent back to the US along with the remains of the crew.

DPAA forensics odontologist Dr Calvin Shiroma said the remains would be sent to the Joint Base Pearl Harbour in Honolulu, Hawaii, for further scientific identification.

“Once we identify the remains, the families of the crew will be contacted,” he said.