United States of America

Alaska Coastal Airlines, a scheduled air carrier, is authorized to conduct operations throughout southeastern Alaska. On January 15, 1958, Captain Fred B. Sheldon departed from Juneau to fly Trip 40. Scheduled stops were planned at Angoon, Hood Bay, Baranof, Rodgers Point, Tenakee, and the flight was to terminate at the point of origin, Juneau. Weather reports for the area indicated conditions to be generally good, enabling the flight to be conducted according to visual flight rules. Ceilings were forecast to be 2,000 to 3,000 feet and winds near the surface were anticipated to be moderate and generally southwesterly. At least one mountain pass over the route was reported closed because of clouds. The gross takeoff weight of the aircraft at Juneau was calculated to be 5,237 pounds, approximately 4 pounds less than the maximum allowable. The load was correctly distributed within the center of gravity limitations. Flight 40 departed Juneau at 1301 and was routine to Angoon. After refueling, the flight continued uneventfully to Hood Bay, Baranof, Rodgers Point; arriving at Rodgers Point about 1520. About 1530, after the takeoff from Rodgers Point, a radio operator there advised the station agent at Tenakee (the next intended en route stop) that flight 40 was off the water and would need 20 gallons of fuel when it arrived. At approximately 1557 the agent at Tenakee heard a distress call from flight 40 over the radio. The pilot called “Mayday” and stated he was trying to make it to the flats in Kadashan Bay. The agent then called Flight 40 by radio asking its position. Sheldon’s final message was “ . . . the flats across from Tenakee.” Immediately thereafter the aircraft crashed. Both passengers were injured while the pilot was killed.

After the crew completed several touch-and-go manoeuvres at Patuxent River NAS, he started a new descent in poor visibility due to foggy conditions. On final, the four engine airplane struck trees and crashed in flames short of runway threshold. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all nine crew members were killed. It appears the crew descended too low in marginal weather conditions.

Constellation 143197 set out on its flight two days before Christmas with a crew of 23. Commander Guy Howard Jr., executive officer of the squadron was sitting in the copilot seat, to give Commander Frederick Woodward a checkout that would qualify him as a plane commander. For five and a half hours Howard put Woodward through his paces. Then, as the Connie cruised only 1,500 feet above the ocean, Howard called for a new exercise: what would Woodward do if a fire broke out in the forward baggage compartment? Responding correctly, Woodward "cut" (disconnected by pulling circuit breakers) some electrical Circuits. But something went wrong. The plane began falling. "I thought it was a drill" Navigator Richard Rentschler later told LIFE Correspondent James Goode. "The next thing I notice was water out the starboard window." Seconds later the plane hit the water, broke in two and caught fire. As the plane hit, Rentschler was hurled under the navigator’s table and came out surrounded by flames. He pushed Radioman Franklin Henry Jr. through the escape hatch, then jumped free himself Lt Thomas Kline, pinned under the radar console, was freed by another crewman (Robert O. Clark). "I jumped through the fire," says Kline, and swam under water 50 feet to avoid the flames. Commander Howard escaped from the cockpit. Nineteen crew members were killed and four others were rescued.
Source:
http://www.willyvictor.com/History/Accidents/1957/LifeArtcl.htm

At approximately 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 12, 1957, U.S. Air Force B-52D Stratofortress, No. 56-0597, from the 92nd Bombardment Wing, was taking off from Runway 5 at Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) on a routine training mission. According to eyewitnesses, as the aircraft left the runway, it made an abnormally steep climb to an altitude of approximately 2,000 feet. Fire started coming from the jet engines and pieces of metal began flying off the engine cowlings and mounts. The aircraft stalled, executed an abrupt, right wingover and appeared to level off. But, at an altitude of approximately 500 feet, the plane nose dived and crashed in a stubbled wheat field one mile west of the base. Exploding jet fuel sent a large column of smoke into the sky, attracting scores of curious onlookers. A crew member was injured while eight other occupants were killed:
Crew:
Maj Ralph Romaine Alworth, †
Cpt Douglas Earl Gray, †
1st Lt James Dennis Mann, †
Col Clarence Arthur Neely, †
Cpt Thomas N. Peebles, †
Cpt Douglas Franklin Schwartz, †
Cpt Herbert Henry Spiller Jr., †
1st Lt Jack Joseph Vainisi, †
T/Sgt Gene I. Graye.
Source: http://www.historylink.org/File/9857

Few minutes after its takeoff from Corpus Christi, the seaplane suffered an engine explosion. The airplane went out of control and crashed in flames about 18,5 miles from Corpus Christi. A crew member was seriously injured while eight other occupants were killed.

The morning of the crash, the crew departed from McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Washington, where they had picked up “hitchhiker” Corporal Timmons and then flew northward. Radio difficulties developed necessitating a return to McChord. Soon remedied, they departed once more for their first fuel stop, Annette Island, near Ketchikan, Alaska, enroute to their final destination, Anchorage, Alaska. High winds and severe turbulence prevented them from landing at Annette Island. The crew was given a choice – either return to a Canadian airport behind them or proceed north to Gustavus where runway lights and equipment for instrument landings offered better facilities for night landings than even Juneau in those days. The weather in Gustavus was reported as “clear and no winds” to “very slight winds”. The crew elected to go to Gustavus. Although the California pilot was well-trained in multi-engine instrument approaches, he was relatively new to Alaskan conditions. As the plane approached Gustavus, it was dark and beginning to snow. The passengers on the plane realized they had arrived in the Gustavus area, momentarily spotting lights through the dark and snow as they anxiously looked out the windows. The fuel supply was very low, so there were no options of returning to Annette or proceeding to Anchorage. The captain was leery of making the standard instrument approach to Gustavus because it would have required him to fly well beyond the airfield, far out over Glacier Bay with an aircraft that was running precariously low on fuel. On the next attempt – now the third time over the airport area in what the locals described as a snow squall, Mr. Aase reported that, “The pilot was in line for the runway, but got a bit low and the right wing caught a tall tree that made the aircraft start to spin and (it) nosed into the ground. “The front of the plane was badly damaged. At the same time the plane was twisting, the tail slowly lowered into the trees which cushioned it. It set down gently into the trees so that the fuselage from the wall aft was just about in perfect condition. So apparently, while attempting to keep the airfield in sight, he elected to circle and make a “short” visual approach to the runway. All four crew members were killed and the seven passengers were injured.
Crew:
Cpt Robert E. Kafader,
1st Lt Dennis V. Stamey,
S/Sgt Floyd S. Porter,
S/Sgt David A. Dial.
Passengers:
Lloyd Timmons,
2nd Lt Harry S. Aase,
Cpt Robert D. Ellis,
W/O Richard J. Mueller,
M/Sgt James E. O’Rourke,
1st Lt Wallace J. Harrison,
2nd Lt William W. Caldwell.
Source and text by Rita Wilson via
http://www.gustavushistory.org/articles/view.aspx?id=10000

The aircraft, a trainer conversion of a B-29 four engine bomber, and its crew were with the 5040th Radar Evaluation Squadron based at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage. On this day, they were on a routine radar-calibration training mission that was to last about 10 hours. Flying south down the Susitna Valley in bad weather, however, they strayed 27 miles off course into the Talkeetna Mountains. At 1822LT, the aircraft crashed into an unnamed glacier at an altitude of 5,600 feet and some 39 miles southeast of Talkeetna, just northeast of the Hatcher Pass. Six crew were killed while four others were injured.
Crew:
Major Robert A. Butler, †
Captain Richard O. Seaman, †
Captain Erwin Stolfich, †
Captain Edward A. Valiant, †
1st Lieutenant William J. Schreffler, †
Airman Basic James R. Roberson, †
Staff Sergeant Calvin K. Campbell,
Staff Sergeant Robert J. McMurray,
Technical Sergeant Manuel Garza,
1st Lieutenant Claire W. Johnson.
Thanks to Adam Elliott for his wonderful website and history: http://adamspictureblog.blogspot.ch/2013/02/bomber-glacier.html

Eastern Air Lines Flight 18 is a scheduled operation serving the carrier's route between New York City and Massena, New York, and its intermediate stops at Albany, Plattsburg, and Malone, New York. On November 14, at 1245, the flight originated on schedule, its flight crew consisting of Captain Joseph W. Harpham, First Officer Robert Casper and Flight Attendant Nancy A. Price. The flight followed routine preparation and was in accordance with an IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flight plan. The general weather conditions over most of the route were forecast to be good. The flight proceeded through the intermediate stops in a routine manner, with most passengers deplaning at Albany and Flattsburg. Just prior to reaching Malone the instrument flight plan was canceled in good weather conditions. The flight landed at Malone at 1502. Continuing uneventfully, Flight 18 departed Malone at 1510. The gross takeoff weight of the Martin 404 was 35,977 pounds, 8,923 pounds under the maximum allowable. According to the load manifest the load was properly distributed within the center of gravity limitations. The first officer made the takeoff, climbed the aircraft approximately 2,500 feet, and flew it to Massena. Captain Harpham from his left seat, supervised the flight and performed the duties of copilot. At 1516, when about eight miles east of Richards Field, Captain Harpham reported the flight's position, then asked for and received landing information, which included the surface wind as “northeast 5 to 10 knots," and the active runway 4 (150 feet wide and 4,000 feet long). First Officer Casper established a downwind leg at 1,200 feet to execute a rectangular left-hand pattern for landing on runway 4. The flight was viewed briefly by ground observers during the pattern before reaching the final landing approach and it seemed entirely normal. As the aircraft drew closer to the threshold it seemed high and thereafter assumed an abnormally steep descent. As it approached the runway surface the aircraft assumed a flareout attitude, however, the rate of descent continued with little visible abatement. Consequently, N492A contacted the runway surface with great force at which time the right powerplant separated from the aircraft. The aircraft rebounded and again contacted with great force. It then rolled forward and gradually off the runway to the right. Before stopping it crossed a taxiway and the left powerplant fell free, accompanied by a small fire in the engine and the empty nacelle area. As the aircraft stopped Captain Harpham shut off the fuel and electrical services and ordered the loading ramp lowered. The passengers and crew quickly evacuated by this exit without difficulty or reported injury. At 1522, two minutes after the accident, weather conditions were reported as: Ceiling 4,000 feet broken, 10,000 feet, overcast; visibility 3 miles; haze; wind northeast 6 knots.

The crew was completing a local training sortie at Castle AFB, consisting of touch and go manoeuvre. After touchdown, the undercarriage failed and the airplane slid on the runway before coming to rest. There were no injuries but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew left Walker AFB at 0630LT for a nine hours training mission consisting of a low level survey flight. After it overflew the small town of Gray Mountain at a height of about 60 feet in marginal weather conditions, the four engine aircraft hit the slope of a mountain and crashed about 35 miles of Flagstaff. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 16 occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the visibility was limited due to low clouds.