WWII Pilot Franklin McKinney Accounted for After 80 Years Missing
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Franklin H. McKinney, who went missing during a World War II spy mission, has been accounted for after more than 80 years. McKinney, 21, from Rhode Island, was serving with the 35th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron (PRS) of the 14th Air Force when he disappeared on November 5, 1944, after taking off from Yunnanyi, China, on a reconnaissance mission aimed at photographing targets in Thailand and Burma.
The squadron, known as the "Redhawks," conducted critical aerial espionage missions deep into Japanese-held territories, gathering vital intelligence that contributed to the war effort. However, contact with McKinney was lost shortly after his departure, and despite extensive searches along his flight path, no evidence of a crash was found at the time.
In the years following the war, local officials in Thailand reported discovering wreckage of an aircraft believed to have been struck by lightning in a wooded area. According to a wartime report from the Royal Thai Air Force Museum, the aircraft exploded before crashing near Ban Mae Kua in the Sop Prap District of Lampang Province. In 2018, researchers identified a crash site in a rice paddy in Lampang province, linking it to McKinney's aircraft.
DPAA investigators examined the site in 2019 and 2021, leading to a recovery operation in 2022 that unearthed possible human remains. These remains were sent to a DPAA laboratory, where modern forensic techniques confirmed McKinney's identity. His family will be briefed on the findings, and his name will be memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines, honoring his service and sacrifice during the war.
