Gander

Site:

Charter/Taxi (Non Scheduled Revenue Flight)

Schedule:

McGuire – Gander – Francfort

MSN:

4827

YOM:

1958

Flight number:

FT923

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

17500

Captain / Total hours on type:

4300.00

Copilot / Total flying hours:

2430

Copilot / Total hours on type:

350

Aircraft flight hours:

15800

Circumstances:

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.

Probable cause:

The failure of two of the aircraft's four engines, and improper action of the flight engineer which disabled a third engine thereby necessitating a ditching at sea.

Final Report:

Crash of a Douglas DC-6B in Shannon: 83 killed

Date & Time: Sep 10, 1961 at 0355 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-6

Operator:

President Airlines

Registration:

N90773

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Düsseldorf – Shannon – Gander – Chicago

MSN:

44058

YOM:

1953

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

After takeoff by night from runway 24 at Shannon Airport, while climbing, the airplane turn to the left then banked left to an angle of 90° and eventually crashed inverted in the Shannon estuary, about two miles from the airfield. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all 83 occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the visibility was poor due to the night and mist.

Probable cause:

Failure of the captain to maintain control of the aircraft after becoming airborne due to either:
- A defective artificial horizon and/or
- A fault in the right-hand aileron tabs.
Contributory causes could have been unsuitable weather conditions and possible crew fatigue.

Final Report:

Crash of a Douglas DC-7C in Shannon: 34 killed

Date & Time: Feb 26, 1960

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-7

Operator:

Registration:

I-DUVO

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation

Schedule:

Rome – Shannon – Gander – New York

MSN:

45231

YOM:

1958

Flight number:

AZ618

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Shortly after takeoff from runway 05, while climbing to a height of 165 feet, the pilote started a turn to the left according to departure procedures. While turning, the airplane lost height, causing the left wing tip to struck a stone wall located near the Clonloghan church. Out of control, the aircraft crashed in flames in an open field and was completely destroyed upon impact. Eleven of the 12 crew members were killed as well as 23 passengers. Eighteen people were seriously wounded.

Probable cause:

No definite evidence leading to a particular reason for this accident was revealed by the investigation. It can only be concluded that the airplane lost height in a turn shortly after takeoff and struck the ground.

Crash of a Lockheed L-1049H-01-06-162 Super Constellation into the Atlantic Ocean: 99 killed

Date & Time: Aug 14, 1958 at 0345 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

PH-LKM

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Convair CV-440 Metropolitan

Schedule:

Amsterdam – Shannon – Gander – New York

MSN:

4841

YOM:

1958

Flight number:

KL607E

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

886

Circumstances:

While cruising at an altitude of 4,000 meters by night, the crew contacted ATC to report his position and all was ok on board. About ten minutes later, the airplane disappeared from radar screens and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 180 km northwest of the Irish coast. SAR operations were dispatched on the scene and several debris and bodies were found in the early morning. All operations were suspended after few days and all 99 occupants were considered as deceased.

Probable cause:

On the basis of the evidence available and the investigation of possible serious threats to safety, the Board cannot establish the cause of the accident with certainty. Moreover, investigation of the possibility that the cause of the accident may have been a bomb explosion has yielded no conclusive facts to support such a hypothesis. The statements in the press to this effect have either been based on misunderstandings or else were tendentious. On the other hand, the Board attributes a high degree of probability to hypothesis that the cause of the accident is related to 'overspeeding' of one of the outboard propellers resulting from oil pollution after a gear had been damaged when the supercharger of the corresponding engine was accelerated (shifted). This probably took place close to the time of the accident. The overspeeding of the propeller, owing to the obstruction of metal particles in the regulator valves may have been such as to cause the propeller pitch to decrease and the propeller could not be feathered. The condition might provoke a flight disturbance which could be corrected only by prompt and powerful handling of aileron and rudder controls. in view of the rapidity with which this defect develops and taking into account that recognition of the nature of this malfunction requires a certain time, it is not always possible for the crew to intervene early enough to restore conditions of controlled flight. With respect to the presumed cause of the accident the Board has no grounds to suppose that the occurrence of the presumed malfunction might be attributable to neglect on the part of maintenance personnel or to incorrect measures taken by the crew or that the crew had been at fault in piloting the aircraft after the malfunction had occurred.

Crash of a Convair CV-440-11 Metropolitan in Shannon: 4 killed

Date & Time: Jul 15, 1956 at 0135 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

HB-IMD

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Delivery

Survivors:

Site:

Lockheed L-749 Constellation

Schedule:

San Diego – New York – Gander – Shannon – Zurich

MSN:

335

YOM:

1956

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The aircraft departed from San Diego, California, at 0407LT on 12 July for Zurich Airport, Switzerland, with two American pilots at the control, on a delivery flight to Swissair. Intermediate stops included New York, Gander and Shannon. Having left New York at 1240 GMT on 14 July 1956, the aircraft landed at Gander at 1659 GMT. After a stop of 57 minutes, it left Gander for Shannon at 1748 GMT carrying the same crew of 4 members. Following an uneventful ocean crossing the aircraft at 0008 hours on 15 July was given initial descent clearance to Shannon and was then cleared into the Shannon Holding Pattern, where four other aircraft were holding. At 0125 hours the aircraft commenced a Ground Controlled Approach to runway 23 and on establishing visual reference to the ground broke off the approach for a left-hand visual circuit to runway 05. During the turn onto final approach to runway 05, the aircraft, while banking steeply was observed to drop. The aircraft was destroyed on impact with the ground at approximately 0135LT and the 4 occupants were killed. There was no fire.

Probable cause:

The probable cause of the accident was an error of judgment by the pilot, resulting in the execution of an abnormally steep turn onto final approach during which the aircraft slipped into the ground.
Possible contributory factors were:
- That for the successful execution of an approach involving a steep turn near the ground on a very dark night, there had been insufficient visual guidance from the terrain,
- Impairment of the pilots' proficiency due to the length of the period on duty.

Final Report:

Crash of a Lockheed L-749 Constellation in Gander

Date & Time: Aug 25, 1954 at 2145 LT

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

F-BAZI

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Charter/Taxi (Non Scheduled Revenue Flight)

Schedule:

Paris – Shannon – Gander – New York – Mexico City

MSN:

2513

YOM:

1947

Flight number:

AF075

Location:

Gander

Newfoundland & Labrador

Country:

Canada

Region:

North America

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

17036

Circumstances:

The crew started the approach to Gander Airport by night and in good weather conditions. Following a stabilized approach, the four engine aircraft landed normally on runway 32. After touchdown, the reverse thrust system were activated when the aircraft veered to the left. Despite several corrections on part of the flying crew such as braking action, movement on the nose wheel steering and power added on both left engines number one and two, the aircraft continued down the runway, overran, lost its undercarriage and came to rest into a ravine. While all 67 occupants were evacuated safely, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Probable cause:

The approach configuration to Gander Airport was correct and the aircraft was stabilized until touchdown. No technical anomalies were found on the aircraft and all piloting techniques were normal. The analysis of the aircraft's path after touchdown did not show any trace of rough braking action. An exam of the pilot reports indicated that the aircraft was quite difficult to be maneuvered during a turn to the right. At the time of the accident, a lateral wind was blowing to 16 knots, which could be considered as a contributory factor.

Crash of an Avro 685 York I into the Atlantic Ocean: 39 killed

Date & Time: Feb 2, 1953 at 0301 LT

Type of aircraft:

Avro 685 York

Operator:

Registration:

G-AHFA

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site:

Consolidated PBY Catalina

Schedule:

Stansted – Lajes – Gander – Kingston

MSN:

1304

YOM:

1946

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

5590

Captain / Total hours on type:

550.00

Copilot / Total flying hours:

2106

Copilot / Total hours on type:

455

Aircraft flight hours:

6418

Circumstances:

The four engine aircraft was on its way from Stansted to Kingston, Jamaica, carrying RAF personnels and their family members. It left Lajes Airport in the Azores Islands at 2325LT on February 1st. While approaching the Canadian coast by night, the crew issued a brief emergency message whose content remains unclear. Shortly later, the aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, about 500 km southeast of Saint John's (approximately 46°15 latitude North and 46°31 longitude West). As the airplane failed to arrive in Gander, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 39 occupants was found. Weather conditions at the time of the accident were considered as good.
Crew:
D. Nicholls, pilot,
P. E. Walton, copilot,
A. E. Chopping, navigator,
J. A. Davis, radio officer,
R. G. Lawrence, flight engineer,
P. M. Newton, stewardess.

Probable cause:

As no trace of the aircraft was found, it was not possible to determine the cause of the accident. However, it was reported that the flying crew was in duty since 19 hours at the time of the accident, which could be considered as a contributory factor.

Final Report:

Crash of a Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina into the Sandwich Bay: 3 killed

Date & Time: May 18, 1952

Type of aircraft:

Operator:

Registration:

CF-FAN

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

Schedule:

Gander – Cartwright

MSN:

22023

YOM:

1943

Location:

Cartwright

Newfoundland & Labrador

Country:

Canada

Region:

North America

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

At 1317LT, the aircraft took off from Gander, Newfoundland, with a crew of three and a cargo of freight on a charter flight to Cartwright, Labrador. The aircraft was seen approaching to land in Sandwich Bay near Cartwright Harbor with the main undercarriage extended. The aircraft appeared to come to a sudden stop immediately after the wheels touched the water and the tail of the aircraft was seen to rise to a vertical position and settle back at an angle of about 45 degrees. All three crew members were killed.

Probable cause:

The aircraft crashed on the water through failure on the part of the pilot-in-command to ensure that the main undercarriage was retracted.

Final Report:

Crash of a Douglas DC-4-1009A in Sydney

Date & Time: Dec 13, 1950 at 0600 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas DC-4

Operator:

Registration:

HB-ILE

Flight Phase:

Flight Type:

Survivors:

Site: