Crash of a Douglas C-133A-10-DL Cargomaster in Ellendale: 4 killed

Date & Time: Apr 13, 1958 at 0843 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
54-0146
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Dover - Dover
MSN:
44716
YOM:
1954
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
4
Captain / Total hours on type:
585.00
Copilot / Total hours on type:
60
Circumstances:
The four engine aircraft left Dover AFB runway 32 at 0828LT on a local training flight. Fifteen minutes later, while cruising at a relative low altitude of 2,000 feet, the airplane went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in flames in a dense wooded area located near Ellendale. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and all four crew members were killed.
Crew:
Cpt Raymond R. Bern, pilot,
1st Lt Herbert T. Palisch, copilot,
T/Sgts Marvin A. Aust, flight engineer,
T/Sgt Edward L. McKinley Jr., flight engineer.
Probable cause:
Its is believed the accident was the result of icing conditions encountered at low height (2,000 feet). Tests showed that ice formed in a tube through which the doomed plane’s control cables passed.