The disappearance of Liberator Commando and its occupants

Commando
Liberator II AL504 Commando which disappeared on 27 March 1945
Type	Consolidated Liberator II
Serial	AL504
Owners and operators	Royal Air Force
In service	July 1942 – 27 March 1945
Fate	Disappeared over the North Atlantic Ocean en-route to the Azores

Commando (Air Ministry serial number AL504) was a very long range Consolidated Liberator II aircraft adapted for passenger transport, to serve as the personal aircraft of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Commando disappeared without a trace on 27 March 1945 over the North Atlantic Ocean, while on a flight from RAF Northolt to Lagens Field in the Azores, en route to Ottawa in Canada. The cause of the disappearance of the aircraft remains unknown to this day.

Volunteer pilot William Vanderkloot, a US citizen serving with RAF Ferry Command since June 1941, delivered a specially modified long-range Consolidated Liberator II in July 1942. Vanderkloot was ordered to RAF headquarters where he was asked by Sir Charles Portal, Chief of the Air Staff, if there was a safe, direct route from England to Cairo, by air in the Liberator which he had just delivered to Prestwick Airport. Vanderkloot informed Portal that the flight was possible with one stop in Gibraltar. Initially heading Eastwards from Gibraltar, staying over the sea in the afternoon, and then turning sharply South after dusk, flying over Spanish and Vichy territory in Africa in darkness, before turning East again for the Nile, approaching Cairo from the South. Thus the danger from land-based enemy aircraft in North Africa and Sicily would be largely avoided without having to fly halfway around Africa.

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Wikipedia