Douglas C-54 Skymaster

After takeoff from Cochabamba-Jorge Wilsterman Airport, while climbing, the engine n°2 failed. The crew was cleared to return for an emergency landing but the aircraft was unstable on final. Upon touchdown, the aircraft went out of control, veered off runway to the left and came to rest in a drainage ditch. A crew member was killed while two others were injured.

During arrival, a descent was begun from 8,000 to 7,000 feet msl at 0151 hst. At 0155 hst, the aircrew was cleared for a visual approach from 7,000 feet msl and a rapid descent was started with 20° of flaps and approximately 25 inches ap (manifold pressure). The aircraft was maneuvered to intercept the ILS localizer and glide slope as a reference. After intercepting the glide slope at about 3,000 feet, the pilot-in-command (pic) called for 2,250 rpm and gear extension. While descending thru approximately 2,000 feet, he noticed the aircraft slowing down and descending below the glide slope, so he called for a power increase to 27 inches map. At about that time, the aircrew noted that the engines were not responding and had lost power. Subsequently, a forced landing was made in a sugar cane field with the gear in a transient position. The fuel selectors were found positioned to fuel tanks containing fuel, but the positioning during the descent was not verified. The temperature and dew point were 72° 65° F. This would have been barely within the envelope for carburetor ice on icing probability charts. All three occupants were uninjured.

En route from La Paz to Palmira, the crew was informed by ATC that Palmira Airport was closed to traffic due to poor weather conditions and was diverted to Trinidad-Jorge Heinrich Arauz Airport. On descent, the four engine airplane went out of control and crashed in flames on the slope of a mountain located few km from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed and all five occupants were killed.

The crew was completing a local training flight at Nouméa-La Tontouta consisting of touch-and-go maneuvers. After takeoff, while climbing by night, the crew initiated a turn when the four engine airplane struck the slope of Mt Kokoreta at an altitude of 1,002 meters and located 10 km east of the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and all seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
LdV Guy Celton, pilot,
MP Marcel Crusson, copilot,
MP Monroe Podlesnik, mechanic,
1st M Bernard Lefuraut, mechanic,
1st M Claude Wullaert, navigator,
1st M Jean Decoudu, electronics,
M Paul Gavard-Pivet, mechanic.

After takeoff from Kenai Airport, while climbing to an altitude of 2,000 feet, the engine n°1 caught fire and exploded. The crew declared an emergency and elected to return to Kenai when a part of the left wing detached. Out of control, the airplane crashed in a pasture and was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. All three occupants were killed.

After takeoff from Christiansted-Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, while climbing on a cargo flight to Miami, the crew declared an emergency after the engine n°3 caught fire. The crew was cleared to return for an emergency landing, was able to extinguish the fire and to feather the propeller. Then the crew encountered controllability problems and the captain decided to ditch the aircraft few km offshore. Two crew members were rescued while the copilot drowned. The aircraft sank about 45 minutes later.

Damaged beyond repair following a heavy landing at Kinshasa-N’Djili Airport. There were no injuries.

Airtankers "T1" (N96449, msn 10750) and "T2" (N406WA, msn 35955) both Douglas DC-4's, departed the Hemet-Ryan Field, CA (HMT) about 13:22. Both airtankers had been recently released by the Forest Service from southern California fire assignments and were headed for their home base in Tucson, Arizona. While enroute, the crew of T1 engaged in taking in-flight photographs of T2 at an altitude of approximately 9,500 feet. T1 was flying in formation with T2 at his four to five o'clock position. The pilot of T1 stated over the radio that they were going to cross over to the other side of T2 to take more photographs. T2 gave permission and said that he would hold steady. The repositioning path T1 flew was a 45 degree overtaking angle from the four to five o'clock position toward the 10 to 11 o'clock position of T2. The vertical separation between the two airtankers was insufficient and a mid-air collision occurred. The vertical fin of T1 struck the right wing flap of T2. T1's fin and rudder were sheared off by that impact. The retardant tanks of T2 compressed the top aft end of the fuselage of T1. The number two propeller of T2 severed the fuselage of T1 approximately 10 feet in front of its horizontal stabilizer. T1's tail section was separated from the rest of the airtanker at that time, rendering it out of control. The pilot of T2 radioed Palm Springs Approach Control at 13:50, declared an emergency, and apprised them of the collision. T2 landed safely at the Palm Springs Airport at 13:56. After T1 experienced the tail separation, they lost altitude rapidly. T1 dropped debris for about a mile and a half until it cut through two power lines and then struck the earth nose first. There was a post-mishap fire. The captain and copilot were fatally injured. The tail section of T1 was found approximately two and a half miles from the main wreckage site. T2's damage consisted of damage to the right wing flap, scrapes and punctures to the retardant tank, damage to the right wheel compartment, badly "chewed up" propeller blades on the number two engine, a hole in the left wing, a dented left horizontal stabilizer on the tail, and various other damage.
Source: ASN

While in cruising altitude on a cargo flight, the crew encountered engine problems and decided to attempt an emergency landing. The airplane crash landed near the Beni River and came to rest. All five occupants escaped uninjured.

The four engine airplane was descending to Cúcuta-Camilo Daza Airport in limited visibility when, at an altitude of 3,400 meters, it struck the slope of Mt Toledo located about 35 km south from Cúcuta. The airplane was destroyed and all 21 occupants were killed, among them civilians.