04 Dec 1942: RTAF Curtiss Hawk III crashed in thunderstorm in Shan State; Kunadilok, pilot, bailed out, survived (T05)

04 Dec 1942: Flt Lt Prasong Kunadilok was flying a Curtiss Hawk III from the north of Thailand to Kengtung. During the flight, he encountered severe thunderstorms in which he lost control of the aircraft. He bailed out safely.¹

Reference:

• 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 141:

04 December 1942
Time 1520 hrs. The 80th Combined Air Wing relocated to Kengtung Airfield; but a Curtiss Hawk III fighter plane, piloted by Flt Lt Prasong Kunadilok, disappeared. It was later found that he had been unable to control the plane in a violent rainstorm and felt forced to parachute from the plane.

No other references were found.

Origin of the flight was not recorded, other than from probably one of the three main airfields in the north of Thailand, nor was the location of the crash recorded:²

Last Updated on 1 September 2026

1. As noted by Sakpinit Promthep email of 18:49 14 Nov 2021[↩]
2. Google Maps extract, annotated by author using Microsoft Publisher.[↩]