US to search for missing WWII airmen in Himalayas

In honor of the crouching, naked blonde painted on its nose, its pilot had named his bomber the Hot as Hell.

But it was a freezing and stormy day as the American B-24 Liberator made its way across the Himalayas on Jan 25, 1944, flying what was known as "the Hump", perhaps the most dangerous route in air transport history.

It was one of nine American planes that went down that day as they tried to re-supply China's besieged army in the city of Kunming, desperately trying to hold out against the invading Japanese during World War II (WWII).