United States of America

The twin engine aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances in Fort Yukon. The copilot was killed while the captain was injured.

The crew was completing a local training mission at Loring AFB. After several touch-and-go maneuvers, the pilots started a new approach. In poor visibility due to bad weather conditions, the airplane was too low on final and crashed in a prairie located about three miles south of the airbase. The aircraft was destroyed, eight crew members were killed while a ninth occupant was killed.
Crew:
Maj Kirkwood G, Myers, pilot,
Lt Lane L. Kittle, copilot,
Lt Leonard M. Corcaro,
Sgt Oran C. Reily,
Lt Robert F. Testerman,
Lt Leslie N. Martin Jr.,
Lt James F. Thompson,
Maj Milo C. Johnson, instructor navigator, †
Maj Moody E. Denton, pilot instructor.

The aircraft was conducting a special flight from Westover AFB to RAF Brize Norton, near London, carrying a crew of seven and eight american journalists who covered the first transatlantic flight on a KC-135 airplane. Two other similar aircraft left the airbase earlier and 56-3599 was the third of a series of four. At liftoff from runway 23, the airplane encountered serious difficulties to gain height and struck trees with its right wing. It then struck power cables and crashed in a huge explosion on the Massachusetts highway about 1,000 yards past the runway end. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 15 occupants have been killed.

The aircraft was carrying a crew of two and two firefighters who should be dropped in the Okanogan National Forest. While flying at low height to drop both passengers, the aircraft was caught by downdrafts and crashed in flames. All four occupants were killed.

A Capital Airlines DC-3 crashed and burned near Martinsburg Airport, Martinsburg, West Virginia, at 1358 on June 4, 1958, injuring the three occupants-an instructor and two pilot-trainees. One trainee, who was flying the aircraft at the time of the accident, died the following day of severe burns. The aircraft was on a training flight from Washington National Airport and was practising takeoffs and landings at Martinsburg Airport. During the pilot's attempt to climb out after abandoning a single-engine approach to runway 8, the aircraft stalled and crashed in a wooded area. A crew member was killed while two other occupants were injured.

Shortly after takeoff from Travis AFB, while climbing to a height of 3,000 feet, the aircraft banked left, dove into the ground and crashed in a huge explosion. Six crew members were killed while two others were seriously injured. The airplane was returning to Tachikawa, Japan, after a major overhaul at the Douglas Aircraft plant in Long Beach.
Crew:
Maj Henderson Cagle, †
Cpt Robert E. Rogers, †
1st Lt Curtis A. Guild, †
2nd Lt Robert Distefano, †
T/Sgt Carroll D. Coziah, †
S/Sgt Raymond L. Hart, †
S/Sgt Ivan J. Wiebold,
A2c Charles R. Vance.

Shortly after takeoff from Driftwood Bay Airport, Umnak Island, while climbing to a height of 800 feet, the aircraft stalled and crashed into the sea. Both crew members were killed.

While parked at Otis AFB and prepared for a survey flight, the aircraft suffered an explosion of its central fuel tank. All fifteen occupants (11 passengers and a crew of four) were able to evacuate before the aircraft would be destroyed by fire. It appeared that the center fuel tank had been filled with fuel, despite the fact that it was not supposed to be filled. Through seepage or overflow from that tank the fuel vapors were ignited by electronic equipment being tested during the pre flight procedure.

On may 20, 1958, about 1129 e. d. t., a Capital Airlines Viscount, N 7410 and a Maryland Air National. Guard T-33, 35966, collided in the air about four miles east-northeast of Brunswick, Maryland. Seven passengers and the crew of four aboard the Viscount were killed. A passenger in the T-33 was killed but the pilot, although severely burned, parachuted safely. Both aircraft were totally destroyed by in-flight collision, ground impact, and the ensuing fire. The collision occurred at an altitude of about 8,000 feet on Victor Airway lilt while the Viscount was descending en route from Pittsburgh to Baltimore-Friendship Airport. It was operating on an instrument flight rules flight plan but in visual flight rules weather conditions. The T-33 pilot was on a VFR proficiency flight from Martin Airport, Baltimore, Maryland. Just before the collision the aircraft were observed in the area west of Brunswick flying parallel easterly courses with the T-33 some distance behind and to the left of the Viscount. The T-33 quickly overtook the Viscount and made a gentle right turn, during which it struck the forward left side of the fuselage of the Viscount. Both aircraft were being operated in visual flight rules weather conditions and it was therefore the responsibility of each crew to provide separation from other aircraft by visual reference. The right-of-way rules contained in the Civil Air Regulations clearly set out the pilot's responsibility in the overtaking situation. It is the Board's aim to provide for a positive control system of air-craft separation which will not depend upon the "see and be seen" principle to prevent the occurrence of collision accidents. The Board has been actively engaged for some time in the development of such a program. Its full implementation is several years away and will be dependent on additional technical improvements in equipment and on the expansion of the air traffic control facilities to accommodate the ever increasing amount of traffic. Since the accident the USAF and Capital Airlines, along with other carriers, in an effort to reduce collision hazards, have required, in general, that all aircraft on airways above 10,000 feet be operated in accordance with IFR.

En route from Ontario (California) to Moffett AFB, the crew decided to perform five consecutive stalls. Doing so, the airplane lost 3,000 feet and suffered severe vibrations that caused structural damages to skin, stringers and bulkheads in the aft portions of the fuselage. The pilot requested permission to divert to Taft Airport for an emergency landing but shortly later, the airplane disintegrated in the air and crashed in a mountainous area located 7 miles east of Taft. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all five crew members were killed.