Army Air Transport Command and was perhaps the most important airplane to come out of the war. It was not until 1942 that the new airliner was ready for its first flight, and by that time the country was at war. The original design, later designated as the DC-4E, featured a pressurized cabin to allow high-altitude operations in relative comfort, but the design was too expensive for the cash-strapped airline industry of the Depression years and was put on hold. Nothing more was heard from the aircraft, nor was any trace of it found despite an extensive search. The pilot was able to ditch the aircraft, and whilst ten people on board were killed as a result of the attack, another nine were rescued by a USAF Grumman HU-16 Albatross Air-Sea Rescue plane. A subsequent inspection of the aircraft's damage revealed that it had been hit by 89 shots fired from the Soviet MiGs.