Hump Airlift Lost 600 Planes

Beginning in April 1942, the US military transported supplies from Assam and Bengal across the eastern Himalayas to Chinese forces in Kunming and Chungking after Japanese advances closed the land route through Burma. Pilots nicknamed the dangerous air corridor "The Hump" because they had to cross the region's towering mountains and unpredictable weather. During the 42-month operation, an estimated 600 American transport planes crashed, killing at least 1,500 airmen and passengers. Despite those losses, the operation delivered 650,000 tons of war supplies and strengthened the Allied war effort in China.

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