Atlantic Ocean

The twin engine aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances into the Atlantic Ocean about 240 km northwest of the Azores Islands while on a flight from Gander to Santa Maria. All three crew members were killed.

About 57 minutes after his departure from Dover AFB, en route to Lajes, Azores Islands, the crew informed ground about his position flying at an altitude of 14,000 feet. In unknown circumstances, the airplane went out of control and crashed into the ocean about 1,440 km east of the coast of New Jersey. SAR operations were initiated but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 10 crew members was found.

Following an uneventful refuelling mission of a Boeing B-47, the Stratotanker was returning to its base at Homestead, south Florida, some 1,125 km from its position. It was flying with a second USAF Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker registered 61-0319 and carrying a crew of six. The first KC-135 was flying at an altitude of 36,000 feet while the second was following at an altitude of 35,500 feet. En route, both airplanes went into a low pressure area and apparently collided. All contacts were lost at 1230LT. SAR operations were conducted and some debris were found a day later some 480 km west of Bermuda. All 11 crew members were killed.

Following an uneventful refuelling mission of a Boeing B-47, the Stratotanker was returning to its base at Homestead, south Florida, some 1,125 km from its position. It was flying with a second USAF Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker registered 61-0322 and carrying a crew of five. The first KC-135 was flying at an altitude of 36,000 feet while the second was following at an altitude of 35,500 feet. En route, both airplanes went into a low pressure area and apparently collided. All contacts were lost at 1230LT. SAR operations were conducted and some debris were found a day later some 480 km west of Bermuda. All 11 crew members were killed.

The crew departed Patuxent River NAS on a night exercise with a US Marine Ship. While cruising at an altitude of 500 feet, the airplane nosed down and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, some 231 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Few debris and the dead body of the captain were found floating on water. No trace of the rest of the crew was found.

he Super Constellation departed Gander at 17:09 GMT for a military (MATS) charter flight to Frankfurt. Three hours later, at FL210 a fire developed in the no. 3 engine, which was shut down and the propeller feathered. The no. 1 engine oversped 5 minutes later when the flight engineer closed the no. 1 engine firewall shut-off valve in error. The crew were not able to restart the engine, and wanted to divert to Shannon with METO power on the no. 4 engine and reduced power on engine no. 2. The no. 2 engine lost power and finally failed, forcing the crew to carry out a ditching. The left wing broke off, but the fuselage remained intact. The cabin filled with water fast and the aircraft sank nose first in about 10 minutes. The Swiss merchant ship christened 'Celerina' was the first to be on site and its crew was able to evacuate 48 wounded people while 28 others, among them five crew members, were killed. The aircraft sank and was lost.

32 minutes after its departure from Dover AFB, while cruising east of Maryland coast at an altitude of 17,000 feet, the airplane disappeared from radar screens and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. An empty life raft and a nose wheel were found floating on water some 53 miles east of Ocean City, Maryland, but no trace of the ten occupants was found. Amazingly, no other debris were found as the airplane was carrying 25 tons of various materials consisting of clothes, boxes and bags.

The aircraft departed Langley AFB at 1117LT bound for Lajes, Azores Islands. In the early afternoon, around 1330LT, the last radio contact was recorded with the crew. As the airplane failed to arrive at Lajes, SAR operations were conducted at the end of the day. Several aircraft were involved in the survey mission and patrol flights were conducted for few days over an area of 705,000 km2. After thousands of flying hours, all operations were suspended as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. It is believed the airplane crashed into the ocean about 400 km east of the US coast.
Crew:
Cpt Robert Tawney, pilot,
1st Lt Zoltan Robert Szaloki, copilot 7.

The crew was conducting a maritime patrol flight out from Brunswick, Maine. While cruising some 310 miles east from the Virginia coast, the airplane went out of control and crashed into the ocean. The crew was unable to send any distress call prior to the accident. Some debris were found floating on water and all 11 crew members were killed.

The crew departed Seymour Johnson AFB to take part to the 'Sky Shield II' exercise over the Atlantic Ocean under flight code 'Pogo 22'. While cruising by night off the Newfoundland coast, the airplane went out of control and crashed in unknown circumstances into the ocean. SAR mission were conducted but eventually suspended as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found.
Crew (4241st Strategic Wing):
Cpt Roland C. Starke Jr., pilot,
1st Lt Kenneth L. Payne, pilot,
Cpt Paul D. Fellows Jr., radar navigator,
Lt Richard C. Wiksell, navigator,
Lt Dean A. Upp, EWO
S/Sgt Helmut Christ, gunner,
A1c Francis B. Jones, maintenance specialist,
Lt Gary W. Sprague, navigator.