Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

The aircraft left Istres-Le Tubé AFB at 1237LT bound for Udine with an intermediate stop in Pisa. While flying over the Alps, the crew encountered poor visibility with snowstorm and strong winds. In such conditions, the captain decided to return to Istres but was unable to locate his position with certainty. Few minutes later, while flying northwest of the village of Château Garnier, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt du Cheval Blanc culminating at an altitude of 2,323 meters. The wreckage was spotted by the crew of a USAF B-17 based in Germany two days later. On site, rescuers did not find any survivors and among the passengers were five children aged 5, and women of US soldiers based in Udine. The day after the wreckage was found, the US B-17 crashed in the same region, killing its entire crew of nine.

The crew was performing a training flight in the vicinity of Lisbon. In flight, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions and lost control of the aircraft that crashed in a huge explosion in Monte da Caparica, south of Lisbon. All three crew members were killed.

The aircraft departed Denver at 1602 for Grand Junction. The crew, all employees of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, consisted of Fred L. Snavely, pilot; Warren L. Lungstrum, copilot; and Ross C. Brown, observer. Over the route to Grand Junction a check was to be made by these men of the VHF (very high frequency) airway facilities to determine whether they were operating normally. According to the flight plan, the flight was to proceed over Red Airway 6 at an air speed of 150 mph. Though only 2 hours were required for the trip, 8 hours supply of fuel was carried. Information supplied to Copilot Lungstrum at the Denver United States Weather Bureau Office was to the effect that clear weather conditions existed generally over the intended route. Over Fraser, Colorado, located approximately 50 miles west northwest of Denver, however, broken clouds were reported. Since this layer of clouds was only 2,000 feet in depth, with tops at 13,500 feet above sea level, it appeared that a cruising altitude of 14,000 or 15,000 feet would be high enough for the flight. Winds at that altitude were from the northwest at 50 mph. Weather Bureau personnel advised that these winds would result in considerable turbulence. Take-off was accomplished at 1602. Twenty-two minutes later, at 1624, the CAA communication station at Denver received a position report from the flight that it was at an altitude of 14,500 feet, 500 feet over the top of clouds, and 20 miles west of Denver. The flight also reported that they were experiencing severe turbulence. Since the flight plan specified that the trip would be made in accordance with visual flight rules, and since the position report indicated that the aircraft was being flown over the top of clouds, the flight was requested at the termination of their 1624 position to verify whether they were actually proceeding in accordance with visual flight rules. A response in the affirmative was received. About one minute after the 1624 report the CAA communicator at Cheyenne, Wyoming, called NC206 and asked for a check of his station’s radio transmission. NC206 responded, “Read Cheyenne Radio loud and clear.” The communicator then asked for a position report from NC206, and the flight replied, “We are approximately. . . .” The remainder of this message, received shortly after 1625, was garbled and faded. The Cheyenne communicator attempted to contact the flight again but was unable to do so. Since interference to radio transmission could have resulted from the mountain ranges between Cheyenne and the aircraft, and since the Cheyenne communicator had overheard the report of severe turbulence, he presumed that the crew was completely occupied in flying the aircraft, and that either they had not heard the last transmission or were too busy at the time to acknowledge. Accordingly, he placed no significance on the failure of the flight to reply. A request had previously been made by the communication station at Eagle, Colorado, for the flight to check the radio transmission of that station. Since Eagle Radio did not receive any calls from NC206, the station called the flight at 1645. No reply was received. Repeated calls were made by the communicator at Eagle on all available frequencies at three-minute intervals until 1735. Then the station requested information concerning the flight from Grand Junction Radio, but neither Grand Junction Radio nor any other radio station on the route had received a call from NC206 since 1625. At 1825, 23 minutes after the estimated arrival time of NC206 at Grand Junction, an emergency was declared.

On final approach to Andrews AFB, the aircraft was too low, hit a building and crashed. A crew member was killed while three others were injured.

Few minutes after its departure from Santa Cruz de Barahona Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and decided to modify his route, diverting to Ciudad Trujillo, the capital city. While cruising about 20 km north of Ciudad Trujillo in low visibility, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain and crashed near Yamasá. All 32 occupants were killed, among them members of the baseball team of Santiago returning home.

Enroute, an engine failed. The crew tried several times to restart the engine that fell off shortly later. In such conditions, the crew elected to make an emergency landing in a desert area located about 40 km northwest of Cairo. The aircraft belly landed and came to rest. There were no casualties but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew was performing a training sortie at RAF Waterbeach, consisting of touch and goes. On final approach, the instructor deliberately shut down an engine to simulate a failure. Following this, the pilot in command missed the landing procedure, overshot and landed too far down the runway. After touchdown, the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran, crossed a road and came to rest. There were no casualties but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

While approaching Leeuwarden, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls and a cloud base at 100 meters. Unable to locate the airport, the captain decided to make a go around and increased engine power. Shortly later, while flying over the city of Leeuwarden, the aircraft hit with its left wing the church of Saint Bonifatius which is 70 meters high. Three meters of the left wing were sheared off. The captain reduced his altitude in an attempt to make an emergency landing and completed a belly landing in a field. The aircraft skidded for several yards and hit three successive ditches before coming to rest with both propellers sheared off. All 15 occupants were unhurt while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Suffered a ground accident in Barajas Airport. No casualties.

On final approach to Uetersen in poor weather conditions, the left engine failed. The pilot lost control of the aircraft that stalled and crashed in flames in a field short of runway threshold. All occupants were injured, the copilot more seriously. The aircraft was destroyed by fire.