Douglas DC-3

The flight departed from Seattle, Washington, at approximately 1300, March 8, 1948, with a crew consisting of George S. Griebel, pilot, and William F. Grund, co-pilot. It carried 800 gallons of fuel, but no passengers or cargo, weighing at the time of take-off 21.963 pounds. At 1615, the flight reported over Red Bluff, California, at 12.000 feet, and requested clearance to descend to and cruise at 10.000 feet. Oakland Airway Traffic Control granted the request, and also cleared the flight to the Moffett radio range station. 25 miles southeast of San Francisco Municipal Airport, San Francisco, California. At 1715, the flight advised San Francisco Approach Control that it as holding northwest of the Moffett radio range station at 10,000 feet. In reply, San Francisco Approach Control directed the flight to hold between the Moffett radio range station and a point 2 minutes northwest of it. At the same time the flight was advised to expect clearance to the San Francisco Municipal Airport at 1745. Between 1717 and 1734 the flight, while flying its holding pattern, received clearance and descended from 10,000 to 6,000 feet. At 1741, it was cleared to make a “straight in” approach to the San Francisco Airport. It was directed to report when it crossed the Moffett radio range station and 4,000 feet, and to report again when it had descended below the overcast, A minute later, at 1742, the flight reported leaving the Moffett radio range station and 4,000 feet. Though the San Francisco Tower called repeatedly, this was the last communication received from the flight.
Between 1755 and 1805 a rancher in the vicinity of Mt. Hamilton heard a noise he thought to be either thunder or blasting. About 1945, after driving to another part of his ranch, he observed fire in the hills and realized then that the noise he had thought to be thunder was that of an aircraft crashing. It was midnight before a searching party reached the wreckage, which was approximately 20 miles east-southeast (on a bearing of 110 degrees) from the Moffett radio range station, and at an elevation of 1,800 feet.

The approach to London-Heathrow Airport was completed in reduced visibility due to the night and foggy conditions. On final, the airplane impacted the ground, exploded and came to rest short of the runway threshold, bursting into flames. Two passengers survived the crash and were seriously injured while 20 other occupants were killed.
Crew:
Henri Goblet, pilot,
Jean Lomba, radio operator,
Louis De Geyndt, steward.

Crashed shortly after takeoff from Mati, killing all 12 occupants.

The crew was on his way from Brownsville to Ciudad del Carmen to pick up a load of seafood for the US market. While cruising vertical to the Gulf of Mexico, the right engine failed, forcing the crew to ditch the aircraft 24 km off Ciudad del Carmen. While preparing a life raft, the American pilot Neil Womack fell into the water and was drowned. The Mexican copilot Esteban de León was rescued by the crew of a ship christened 'Roatán' nine days later.

Belly landed for unknown reason. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and there were no casualties.

Flight 572 arrived in Atlanta, Georgia, from its point of origin, Houston, Texas, at 2330, January 12, 1948. With a new crew, consisting of Captain Paul J. Saltanis, First Officer Ralph B. Sanborn, Jr., and Flight Attendant Peter L. Philiois, the flight departed from Atlanta at 2355 for Greenville and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Washington, D. C. The flight as far as Winston-Salem was routine. At 0306, January 13, 1948, the flight took off from Winston-Salem carrying six passengers, a crew of three, and 600 gallons of fuel. It proceeded at the altitude of 9,000 feet specified in the flight plan, to Washington, via Blackstone and Richmond, Virginia. Shortly after reporting over Blackstone, at 0405, 146 miles southwest of Washington, an airway traffic control clearance was transmitted by company radio to the flight authorizing it to cross the Doncaster fan marker, 27 miles southwest of Washington, at 5,000 feet. Captain Saltanis requested a lower altitude and ten minutes later received another ATC clearance approving 3,000 feet over Doncaster, and permission to descend to 2,500 feet immediately after crossing Doncaster. At 0427, the flight reported its position to the Washington control tower, stating that it was over Doncaster at 3,000 feet. It was instructed by the tower to maintain 2,500 feet, and to report again when it was over Mt. Vernon. 9 miles south of the Washington National Airport. At about this same time another Eastern Air Lines’ flight, No, 454, reported that it was at 4,500 feet over the Arcola range station, which is located 23 miles west-northwest of Washington, D. C. Since the two Eastern Air Lines' flights were converging toward Mt. Vernon, the airport traffic controller thought that flight 454 might fly over Mt. Vernon before it had descended to a safe altitude below Flight 572. To assure that both airplanes would not be over Mt. Vernon at the seine time and altitude, the controller instructed Flight 572 to climb to 3,500 feet Flight 572 acknowledged, advised that it was contact, and asked why it was necessary to climb. Less than a minute later, at approximately 0430, the east bound flight, No. 454, reported that it was “contact” at 2,000 feet and approaching Mt. Vernon. The controller then knowing that a safe altitude separation existed between the two aircraft, cleared night 572 back to its previous approach altitude of 2,500 feet. At 0433, flight 572 was again cleared to the airport by the Washington Tower, and advised to report when leaving 2,500 feet, when leaving Mt. Vernon, and when "VFR." 2 Following this transmission flight 572 was asked to give a short count, since the tower wished to adjust its receiving frequency. The flight complied. Then at 0435, the flight was requested to report the altitude of the base of the clouds. The flight responded, “standby.” According to the tower operator the pilot’s voice when giving the tuning count was normal, but his “standby,” sounded “hurried and preoccupied.” One to two minutes after the east bound flight, No. 454, reported contact approaching Mt. Vernon, an aircraft was observed in the tower’s surveillance radar scope over the vicinity of Mt. Vernon. This aircraft was then tracked continuously, first In the surveillance, and then in the precision beam radar scope until it had landed on runway 36. 3 It was then identified as Eastern's Flight 454. Flight 572, however, was not observed in either scope. From 0435 to 0445 several attempts were made to establish radio contact with flight 572. Forty-five minutes later it was learned that it had crashed in the vicinity of Oxon Hill, Maryland, approximately 5.2 miles south of the Washington National Airport. Three passengers and two crew members were killed in the accident.

Crashed in unknown circumstances.

After refueling to 600 gallons of gasoline, the flight departed at 0553 on an instrument flight plan to Miami, via Airway Amber 7, at an altitude of 2,000 feet. The crew reported over the Florence, South Carolina, range station at 0643 at an altitude of 2,000 feet. At 0716 they reported over Charleston, South Carolina, at an altitude of 2,000 feet, and estimated their arrival over Savannah at 0744. This was the last communication received from the flight. Between Charleston and Savannah, Co-pilot Eick left the cockpit to obtain navigational charts, during which time he heard one or both of the engines run roughly. By the time he returned to his seat, however, both engines were again operating normally. A few minutes later both engines stopped, and the fuel pressure gauges were observed to be at zero. The wobble pump was used, different positions of the fuel tank selector valves were tried, the cross-feed valves were turned to the “on” position, but no fuel pressure could be obtained. When it became apparent that the engines could not be restarted, Captain Antonioli informed the co-pilot that it would be necessary to make a forced landing in a nearby marsh, and instructed him to see that the passengers were secured by safety belts. Co-pilot Eick proceeded immediately to the cabin where he buckled the safety belts of 4 or 5 passengers. Then he felt the airplane turning steeply, and he attempted to return to the cockpit. By the time he reached the radio compartment passageway between the passenger cabin and the cockpit he was forced to the floor by centrifugal force. The aircraft shuddered as though in a stall, and crashed. Witnesses on a nearby barge saw the aircraft approaching from a north-westerly direction at an altitude estimated to be 1,000 feet, descending without audible engine noise. It was observed to enter a gliding turn to the left which was continued for about one and one-half revolutions, until the airplane crashed into a marsh and burst into flames. A pilot and 17 passengers were killed.

While approaching Paris, the crew was instructed by ATC to stack for about 30 minutes due to an Air Algérie DC-3 landing at the same time. Also, ATC told the crew to divert to Pontoise-Cormeilles en Vexin if they wanted to land immediately. The captain decided to stack for about 30 minutes at an altitude between 700 and 1,000 meters and was later authorized to descent to Le Bourget. On final approach, while at a height of some 150 feet, the aircraft stalled and crashed in a tulip field located 1,500 meters short of runway threshold. Two passengers were seriously injured while all 14 other occupants were killed. Few hours later, both survivors died from their injuries.
Crew:
Edouard Albin, pilot,
Georges Capron, copilot,
Pierre Lebeau, radio navigator,
Joseph Lacroix, mechanic,
Mr. Germé, steward.

Shortly after takeoff from León-Guanajuato-Del Bajio Airport, the crew informed ground that an engine failed and received the authorization to return for an emergency landing. While completing a last turn, the pilot lost control of the aircraft that stalled and crashed in a residential area located near the airport. Both pilots, three passengers and three people on the ground were killed.