Rome

While cruising at an altitude of 17,500 feet between Rhodes Island and Cyprus, the crew noted slight vibrations but was unable to localize them. Four minutes later, a loud bang was noted, an explosion occurred, a brutal depressurization occurred and the aircraft lost 1,000 feet. The captain, who was sleeping, joined immediately his seat, disengaged the automatic pilot system and started an emergency descent with a rate of 300-500 feet per minute. In the mean time, the copilot informed ATC he elected to divert to Nicosia Airport. The crew realized that the engine number three fell off and decided to shut down the engine number four and feathered its propeller. Eventually, the captain decided to ditch the aircraft on a calm sea about two NM off the Fethiye lighthouse. Ten minutes after landing, the empennage broke off and sank. Some passengers swum to the shore and the aircraft eventually sank two hours later. Three crew members were injured, 35 occupants were unhurt and four passengers were killed.

The descent to Frankfurt was started in poor weather conditions with light rain, overcast at 1,500 feet and few clouds at 300 feet. The crew informed ATC about his position vertical of Staden beacon at 4,000 feet and few minutes later over Offenbach at an altitude of 2,500 feet. For unknown reason, the four engine aircraft christened 'Koningin Juliana' was too low, hit tree tops and crashed in flames in a dense wooded area located about 7 km northeast of the airport. A passenger and a crew member were seriously injured while 45 other occupants were killed.

On final approach to Zurich-Kloten Airport, the pilot-in-command did not realize his altitude was insufficient due to poor visibility caused by night and foggy conditions. The four engine aircraft hit tree tops and crashed in flames in a wooded area located about 5 km north of the runway 16 threshold. The aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire and six crew members were killed while a seventh occupant was injured.
Crew:
Cpt Theodore Gibson, pilot, †
Cpt Robert Constant, copilot, †
George Henninger, navigator, †
Morgen Jensen, †
Terence Melly, copilot, †
Shlomo Levity, †
Michael Querzia, radio operator.

The aircraft was completing a charter flight from Rome to Montreal with intermediate stops in Paris, Shannon and Keflavik, carrying a crew of seven and 51 Canadian pilgrims flying back home after a pilgrimage in Rome and having seen the Pope. While cruising by night at an altitude of 6,000 feet between Grenoble and Gap, the four engine airplane hit the east slope of the Mt Obiou (Grande Tête de l'Obiou) culminating in the attitude of 2,789 meters. SAR operations were quickly conducted but several hours were necessary for the rescuers to access the crash site that was difficult to reach. The wreckage was found in a snow covered terrain and all 58 occupants were killed.
Crew:
Orville-Alfred Olmstead, pilot,
Robert-James Henderson, copilot,
Henry-Thomas Warkentin, navigator,
Arthur Bethwell, navigator,
Dennis-Norman Nichols, radio operator,
Roderick-Malcolm McIsaac, purser,
Helen-Marjory Johnston, stewardess.

The flight departed from Rome, Italy, at 1608, August 14, 1949, carrying 49 passengers and a crew of nine, 2,260 gallons of fuel, and 2,750 pounds of baggage and cargo Aircraft weight at time of takeoff was 68,646 pounds, which was within the allowable limit of 70,700 pounds No information is available as to whether the aircraft was properly loaded with respect to its certificated center of gravity limits According to the instrument flight clearance filed with Rome Air Traffic Control, the planned route was to Marseille, France, at an altitude of 10,500 feet, then direct to Shannon, Ireland, at an altitude of 8,500 feet Orly, the principal commercial airport at Paris, France, was designated as the flight's alternate Clear weather and light to moderate winds over the proposed route were predicted. Takeoff from Rome was made by First Officer Hall as pilot with Captain Bessey serving as copilot After leveling off at 8,500 feet, 2,000 feet below the planned cruising altitude to Marseille, Captain Bessey retired to the crew's quarters, and the flight continued with First Officer Hall flying as pilot Second Officer John Moore was co-pilot, James Baumann was navigator, Robert D Thomas and Herbert Ashbell were radio officers, and Ralph Fisher and Luigina Cerabona were flight attendants The ninth member of the crew, Ruth Nichols, had no assigned duties. Except for the fact that the number 3 engine operated roughly when the mixture was in auto lean, the flight progressed without incident At approximately 2300, the flight descended to 3,500 feet, which was above a layer of stratus clouds. The original ETA (estimated time of arrival) of 0021 over Shannon was revised several times en route, but all such times passed without the flight observing the Shannon Airport Actually, although unknown to the crew, at 2300 the aircraft had been flown beyond Shannon and was over the North Atlantic It was not until 0050 or later that a turn was made for the return course to Shannon. At 0106 the flight alerted Air-Sea Rescue facilities at Shannon and gave its position as 100 miles west of Shannon, flying inbound on a track of 80 degrees Ground speed was estimated to be 140 knots The flight continued toward Shannon until 0240 when all fuel was exhausted, and at which time the aircraft was ditched, seven miles northwest of Lurga Point on the Irish Coast No use was, made by the flight of 500 KC's, the International Distress Frequency. The aircraft remained afloat for about 15 minutes, during which time the crew and the passengers removed and manned all but one of the life rafts Aircraft circling over the life rafts were able to direct the British trawler "Stalberg" to the scene. All rescue operations were completed shortly after daylight of August 15, 1949. Seven passengers and one crew member died as a result of exposure or drowning, all others were successfully rescued. The aircraft sank and was lost.

The crew was engaged in a test flight. Shortly after takeoff from Guidonia AFB, the pilot encountered control problems and decided to attempt an emergency landing. The aircraft belly landed in a field located in Tor Sapienza, about 15 km southwest of Guidonia. On ground, the aircraft slid for several yards and hit a boy aged 11. While all five crew members were uninjured, the boy was killed and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

While overflying the Peloponnese region, the crew encountered poor weather conditions when the aircraft hit the slope of Mt Taigetos located about 22 km southeast of Kalamata. Seven USAF aircraft took part to the SAR operations and the wreckage was found few hours later in a mountainous region. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and all 24 occupants were killed.

While flying at an altitude of 2,400 meters in poor weather conditions, the twin engine aircraft hit the slope of Mt Cardo located in the center of Corsica. The wreckage was found few hours later and all 19 occupants were killed.

Enroute, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt dell'Aretino located near Cerbaiola, killing all four crew members.

The aircraft was returning to Stockholm with a crew of four and 21 Swedish pilots who delivered Saab B-17 to the Ethiopian Army in Addis-Ababa. It left Catania Airport at 1428LT bound for Rome. After passing over the Island of Stromboli, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with thick clouds. To avoid this area, the crew modified his route but few minutes later, while flying at an insufficient altitude of 1,040 meters in poor visibility, the aircraft hit tree tops located on the Mt Cerro near Ravello. The captain tried to avoid a ground collision so he increased engine power and attempted a 180 turn when the left wing hit the Santa Maria del Monte Peak. The aircraft crashed in flames and was destroyed. Four occupants were rescued while 21 others were killed.