December 15, 1944 a cold, wet and foggy afternoon,  Glenn Miller departed a RAF-Base, England in a Norseman C-64 aircraft. The flight was to take Glenn Miller and other passengers to Paris. However, the flight never made it. It is believed the aircraft encounted icing conditions over the English Channel and crashed. Glenn Miller and his band had been performing for Allied Troops prior to the crash and was planning on putting on a show in Paris, France.  Glenn Miller and his band was idolized by many during his career. The news of his death stunned the world. The UC-64A is a ten-place, single-engine utility transport manufactured  by the Noorduyn Aviation, Ltd., Montreal, Canada.

First flown in 1935, the Norseman was designed for rugged Canadian bush country operations and could be equipped with wheels, floats, or skis. Before WW II, 69 were delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force as trainers. After service testing seven YC-64s, the U.S. Army Air Forces adopted the aircraft in 1942 as a light transport. Noorduyn produced 762 Norseman for the USAAF before the war ended. Of these, 749 were UC-64As, including three that went to the Navy as JA-1s and six that were equipped with floats for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.