Atlantic Ocean

The four engine aircraft left Frankfurt-Main Airport at 0936LT on October 14 bound for Lajes where it landed at 1603LT. After refueling, the airplane left Lajes at 1851LT bound for Westover AFB, Massachusetts. About an hour later, the crew informed ground about technical problems with radio compas and radio altimeters and decided to return to Lajes where it landed safely at 2019LT. According to duty time and rest time, the crew decided to pass the overnight in Lajes and took off on October 15 at 0843LT bound for the US. As the aircraft failed to arrive, SAR operations were conducted but were eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found.

At 1915 Zulu, on Wednesday, the 21st of March, 1951, the C-124 commanded by Major Robert J. Bell of the 2nd Strategic Support Squadron departed Walker AFB, loaded with aircrews and equipment of the 509th Bomber Group, final destination was RAF Lakenheath, England. At 2212 Zulu, they touched down at Barksdale AFB, Shreveport, Louisiana where they remained overnight. On Thursday, the 22nd of March Brigadier General Paul T. Cullen and his staff joined the other passengers and boarded the aircraft. BG Cullen was the commander of the newly established 7th Air Group assigned to England. The flight took off at 0425 Zulu, destination Loring AFB, Limestone, Maine. Following an uneventful eight hour flight, the C-124 touched down at Loring, time: 1230 Zulu. While the aircraft was being refueled, the pilots and navigators went to base ops where they received an updated weather briefing. They filed the flight plan for the final leg: Limestone direct Gander, great circle (rumb line) to RAF Lakenheath (some sources reports RAF Mildenhall, both in Suffolk, UK). The flight route was over the weather ships that linked the American continent to the British Isles. Along the route, they checked in with each ship, giving a position report, status on board, and receiving updated weather. At 0100 Zulu, Friday the 23rd of March, 1951, they checked in with the British weather ship 4YJ stationed at 52 degrees north latitude, 20 degrees west longitude. The C-124 radio operator gave their position report (approximately 800 miles southwest of Ireland). Shortly thereafter, the C-124 gave out a Mayday call, reporting a fire in the cargo crates. They began jettisoning the crates and announced they were ditching. The C-124 ditched at the approximate grid 50 degrees 45 minutes North, 24 degrees 03 minutes West. The aircraft was intact when it touched down on the ocean. All hands excited the aircraft wearing life preservers and climbed into the inflated 5 man life rafts. The rafts were equipped with cold weather gear, food, water, flares, and Gibson Girl hand crank emergency radios. The USAF 509th element stationed in England launched a B-29 to search for the survivors. Captain Muller was the pilot in command. He located the men when they fired several flares. The B-29 was not carrying any rescue equipment that could be dropped to the survivors. Captain Muller radioed back that he had located the men and would remain on station until bingo fuel. They continued circling and hoping for rescue aircraft to arrive but to no avail. Reaching critical fuel, Captain Muller was forced to abandon his fellow airmen and return to base. When the first rescue craft reached the scene 19 hours later, all that was found was a burned briefcase and a partially deflated life raft. Despite the largest air and sea search up to that time, not one body was found. Not one ship or a single aircraft returned to the position given by Captain Muller until Sunday, the 25th of March, 1951. When the ships arrived all they found were some charred crates and a partially deflated life raft. Ships and planes continued searching for the next several days but not a single body was found. The men of C-124 #49-0244 had quite simply disappeared. The flight was performed for the US Strategic Air Command and among the 53 occupants was the Brigadier General Paul Thomas Cullen, first commander of the 7th Air Division of Strategic Air Command and deputy commander and chief of staff of the 2nd Air Force. Later it was revealed that Soviet submarines and surface vessels were active in the area. It has been speculated that Cullen and his companions were taken aboard Soviet submarines and brought to Russia for interrogation. Due to their expertise in nuclear and other defense matters, Cullen and the other men on the airplane would have been an intelligence windfall to the Soviets. Cullen had been the air service's leading expert on aerial reconnaissance and aerial photography. He also was the head of photography at the Crossroads atom bomb tests in the Pacific in the late 1940s. He also had served as commander of the 2nd Operations Group on two occasions during World War II.

Crew (509th Wing, 2nd Strategic Squadron):
Maj Robert J. Bell, pilot,
Cpt Emmette E. Collins, pilot,
2nd Lt Howard P. Mathers, pilot,
S/Sgt Robert D. Amsden, flight engineer,
T/Sgt Charles E. Green, flight engineer,
2nd Lt Karl R. Armstrong, navigator,
Cpt Francis N. Davis, navigator,
S/Sgt Homer Jones Jr., radio operator,
S/Sgt Martin C. Bemis, civil engineer,
Sgt Joseph D. Broussard, civil engineer,
M/Sgt Everett D. Scarbrough, civil engineer,
Cpl Arthur F. Chute,
Cpl Jack R. Crow.

Passengers:
S/Sgt Glenn E. Adler,
Cpt Phil B. Adrean,
Sgt George W. Ambrose,
Cpl Sterling L. Ambrose,
Pvt Dwight A. Berenberg,
Sgt Robert R. Bristow,
Cpt John E. Counsell,
Brig Gen Paul Thomas Cullen,
Cpt Mark O. Dubach,
Cpt Miezyslaw Dudek,
S/Sgt Gene D. Dughman,
1st Lt Jack R. Fife,
2nd Lt William E. Fisher Jr.,
Col Kenneth N. Gray,
T/Sgt Charles E. Green,
S/Sgt Thomas E. Green,
Lt Col James I. Hopkins,
Cpt Robert F. Kampert,
Cpt Thomas R. Kelly,
Cpt Carl N. Krawiec,
2nd Lt Max D. Lee,
S/Sgt Nicolo A. Lengua,
Bbr Samuel P. Lutjeans,
Sgt Ronald D. McGee,
Lt Col Edwin A. McKoy,
Sgt Frank A. Meckler,
Cpt Walter T. Peterson,
Cpt Calvin Porter,
Lawrence E. Rafferty,
Maj Gordon H. Stoddard,
Cpl Clarence G. Swisher,
Cpl Bobby G. Thomas,
M/Sgt Taylor H. Vangilder,
Cpt Roger S. Vincent,
Walter A. Wagner Jr.,
M/Sgt H. C. Williamson,
Bbr Raymond L. Witkowski,
Cpt Edwon D. Zabawa,
Cpt Frank B. Zalac,
Cpt John C. Zweygarti.

Source:
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=57408636

http://www.wafbmuseum.org/alumni-stories/last-flight-the-missing-airmen-march-1951/

The crew was performing a flight from Gibraltar to Lisbon to assist the crew of a RAF Halifax that diverted to Lisbon. While flying over the Atlantic Ocean, weather conditions deteriorated and the pilot decided to divert to Tangiers and later to Cadix. As the aircraft was short of fuel, he was forced to ditch the airplane 56 km south of Cadix and the radio operator was able to send a brief message before the aircraft impacted water and sank. All three crew members and two passengers took refuge in a dinghy while a third passenger drowned.
Crew (224th Squadron):
F/O Wilson, pilot,
F/O Ferguson, navigator,
F/Lt Joseph Charles Laurier Roger Labelle, wireless operator.
Passengers:
F/O Miller, †
Sgt Dobbs,
SAC C. Chambers.

The crew was performing a flight from Riverside, California, to the UK. En route over the Atlantic Ocean, the crew encountered engine problems and the captain decided to ditch the aircraft 385 miles northeast of Bermuda. Following the accident, 18 crewmen took refuge in dinghies while two others were drowned. About two days later, the crew of a USAF B-17 spotted the survivors who were eventually rescued and evacuated by the crew of the Canadian destroyer christened 'Haida' 72 hours after the accident. The aircraft was lost.

The aircraft left Belfast-Aldergrove Airport at 0850LT on a meteorological mission over the Atlantic Ocean. The crew maintained radio contact with the ground until 1143LT when it disappeared from radar screens. SAR operations were conducted on a large area west of the Outer Hebrides Islands but were eventually suspended as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. On board were three passengers and four crew members from the 202nd Squadron.

En route, an engine failed, forcing the crew to ditch the aircraft about 500 km southeast of Saint John's. The airplane crashed near a US Coast Guard ship. All four crew members were rescued while the aircraft sank and was lost.

The aircraft was performing a flight from Dakar to UK. While approaching the Canary Islands, it crashed in unknown circumstances some 35 miles south of the Spanish archipelago. No trace of the aircraft nor the 15 crew members was found.

The crew was performing a flight from Fort-de-France, Martinique, to Paris, with an intermediate stop in Port-Etienne, Mauritania. While cruising by night over the Atlantic Ocean, about 1,920 km from Port-Etienne (now Nouadhibou), the aircraft crashed into the ocean in unknown circumstances at 2355LT. No message was sent by the crew. SAR operations were jointly conducted by several countries and few debris were found by the crew of USS Campbell three days later, on August 4. Unfortunately, none of the 52 occupants survived the crash of this six-engine aircraft christened 'Henri Guillaumet'.
Crew:
Corentin Kersual, pilot,
Jean Goutay, copilot,
Henri Gloux, radio navigator,
Gontran Ronat, radio navigator,
Henri Cabanes, navigator,
Gaston Le Morvan, mechanic,
Jean Coustaline, mechanic,
Alfred Jaggi, mechanic,
Mr. Arbelot, mechanic,
Mr. Sgourdeos, steward,
Mr. Meunier, steward.

Crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in unclear circumstances. As the aircraft failed to arrive in Shannon, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended five days later, on May 10, as no trace of the aircraft nor both crew members was found.

Christened 'Star Tiger', the four engine aircraft left Horta, in the Azores Islands, at 1534LT bound for Hamilton, Bermuda. At 0200LT, about 10,5 hours into the flight, the navigator Cyril Ellison fixed its position and learned that they too had been blown off course and were crabbing away from Bermuda. He informed the pilot McMillan about a new course which turned the aircraft directly into a gale. However, McMillan still expected to reach Bermuda with at least an hour's worth of fuel remaining upon landing. At 0304LT, the radio officer Robert Tuck requested a radio bearing from Bermuda, but the signal was not strong enough to obtain an accurate reading. He repeated the request eleven minutes later, and this time the Bermuda radio operator was able to obtain a bearing of 72 degrees, accurate to within 2 degrees. The Bermuda operator transmitted this information, and Tuck acknowledged receipt at 0317LT. This was the last radio contact with the aircraft and its crew. As the aircraft failed to arrive in Hamilton, SAR operations were conducted but were eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 31 occupants was found.