Shemya

The crew departed Shemya Airport at 0810LT on a short flight of 10 minutes to the Casco Grove Coast Guard Station (LORAN Station) based on Attu Island. At that time, weather conditions were considered as good with clouds down to 400 feet, broken at 2,000 feet, visibility eight miles and wind from 210 at 20 knots. Because of the short flight, the crew did not take the time to align the aircraft's inertial navigation system prior to departure. Upon arrival to Casco Grove Airport, weather deteriorated and the captain elected to maintain visual contact with the water surface while the copilot and the navigator were monitoring the approach on radar. On approach to the airport, the crew failed to realize their altitude was too low when the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located about 3 miles southwest of runway 02 threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and caught fire after impact. A crew member and one passenger were killed while 9 other occupants were injured.

The approach to Shemya Airport was initiated by night and poor weather conditions with turbulences, fog and snow falls. On final, the crew failed to realize he was too low when the airplane struck the ground and crashed few hundred yards short of runway threshold. Six occupants were killed while 18 others were rescued.
Those killed were:
Maj William R. Bennett,
Cpt Larry A. Mayfield,
1st Lt Loren O. Ginter,
M/Sgt Stephen L. Kish,
S/Sgt Steven C. Balcer,
S/Sgt Harry L. Parsons III.

The crew departed Shemya Airport, in the Aleutians Islands, bound for Eielson AFB, under call sign Irene 92. At 0936LT, while cruising between the Rats and Andreanof Islands, the copilot informed ATC about vibrations but elected to continue the flight. Few minutes later, the radio contact was lost due to technical problems but ATC was able to follow the plane on screens till 1022LT when it disappeared in the Amchitka passage. SAR operations were conducted for nine days but no trace of the airplane nor the 19 occupants was found. More details on http://www.spyflight.co.uk/Rivet%20Amber.htm

The crew was returning to Shemya following a reconnaissance mission. After touchdown on an icy runway, the airplane encountered difficulties to stop within the remaining distance, overran and came to rest few dozen yards farther. While the aircraft was damaged beyond repair, all 18 occupants were evacuated safely.

Flight CKA779 was a Military Air Transport Service (MATS) contract flight. It originated at Everett-Paine AFB, WA (PAE), on July 20, 1961, and proceeded to Fairfield-Travis AFB, CA (SUU). At Travis AFB 25,999 pounds of cargo was loaded. The flight then departed Travis and flew non-stop to Anchorage, Alaska. At Anchorage, the crew received weather and NOTAM information for the flight to Shemya AFB, AK (SYA), which did not include the approach or field lighting deficiencies. The stop at Shemya was for the purpose of servicing the aircraft before proceeding to Tachikawa AB, Japan for refueling. The flight took off from Anchorage at 19:40 and proceeded routinely toward Shemya. The flight made contact with Shemya Radio at 00:45. It was flying at FL100 between layers of clouds. At 01:28 the crew reported 100 miles east of Shemya, estimating Shemya at 01:55. Shemya Radio cleared the flight inbound to Shemya Homer and to descend and maintain 5,500 feet. At 01:45, the flight contacted Shemya GCA and radar contact was made approximately 18 miles north-northeast of Shemya, at 5,500 feet. The GCA controller transmitted the following weather information: "Indefinite ceiling 200 feet; sky obscured, visibility one mile in fog; new altimeter 29.86." According to the GCA controller, the DC-6 intercepted the glide path for runway 10 properly and maintained a good course. When two miles from touchdown, it dropped approximately 10 to 25 feet below the glide path. At one mile out, the flight went an estimated 30 to 40 feet below the glide path, which was still well above the minimum safe altitude for the approach. When the flight, was over the approach lights, it started to descend rapidly. The aircraft struck an embankment, approx. 200 feet short of the threshold in a nearly level attitude, the nose wheel touching first, about 18 feet below the crest, very nearly aligned with the centerline of the runway. The aircraft slid up the embankment during impact and when it reached the crest, broke in two at the leading edge of the wings. The fuselage, wings, and tail section stopped and settled back on the slope. The powerplants, nose section, and the bulk of the cargo slid varying distances toward the runway and up on it for a distance of about 100 yards. Fire followed impact and the majority of the wreckage was consumed.

The crew was performing a flight from Canada to South Korea with an intermediate stop in Shemya, Aleutian Islands, taking part to the Korean airlift. After touchdown at Shemya Airport, the four engine aircraft went out of control and veered off runway before coming to rest. There were no casualties but the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

Crashed in flames while taking off from Shemya Airport, Aleutians Islands. All nine crew members were killed.
Crew:
Arthur Samuel MacFarlane, pilot,
William Horace Somerville,
John Frederick Jackson Jr.,
Roy Thomas Pevehouse,
Edward McCamley Jr.,
Charles Richard Post,
Teddy Richard Smith,
George H. Little,
James L. McDonnelly.