The tail section snapped off like a balsa-wood toy. The walls of the fuselage collapsed as though sucked inward.
The cabin crumpled forward toward the cockpit. And finally one day, documentary filmmaker Alexander McCann parachuted in, emboldened by a few drinks. Reporters joined the flights that showered provisions on the contingent of survivors and rescuers on the ground. "They said bahala na was their gung ho motto, which means, 'Come what may,' " says Zuckoff.īy then, the story of the crash and the survivors had caught the attention of the media - journalists were particularly intrigued by the attractive young corporal, Hastings. volunteered to parachute into the valley and bring the survivors out - but there was a catch: Once the rescue team was dropped into the valley, there was no way to get them out.īut the paratroopers were determined to help. Filipino-American paratroopers under the command of Capt. While the survivors were making friends with the men and women of the valley, rescue plans were getting under way. "He finally got real close and I reached out and grabbed his hand. McCollom instructed the group to smile, and luckily, the tribe leader smiled back. "There was a log running across this little gulley and he walked out on the log and I walked out on the log and we got closer together," McCollom recalls. Rumor had it that the local tribes were cannibals and headhunters, so McCollom was initially cautious as he approached their leader. It was then that they first encountered the residents of the valley. At a press conference after the rescue she quipped, "I'd like a shower and a permanent." Margaret Hastings (right), the lone female survivor, was a media favorite. The flight began as a sightseeing tour on May 13, 1945, when 24 men and women stationed in New Guinea boarded the Gremlin Special to fly over a hidden valley that had been nicknamed "Shangri-La."Ĭpl. His book is the story of one of the few crashes in New Guinea where survivors lived to tell the tale. "New Guinea was sort of a graveyard for planes," Zuckoff explains. At the time of World War II, much of the island was uncharted - hundreds of planes crashed there, and few were ever found. The story is set against the unforgiving backdrop of New Guinea's high mountains, dense rain forests and thick clouds. Zuckoff tells that epic tale in a new book, Lost in Shangri-La. Several years ago, journalist Mitchell Zuckoff came across an article about a World War II plane crash in New Guinea that had all the elements of an unforgettable story: There was a terrible accident in a harsh landscape, three survivors, a hidden world with a Stone Age existence, and a heroic rescue mission.
Army station in Hollandia, New Guinea, shortly after their rescue. John McCollom were the only three survivors of the Gremlin Special crash.
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