United States of America

Went out of control and crashed in unknown circumstances into the Potomac River off Potomac Heights, Maryland. A crew member was rescued while both other occupants were killed.

Trans World Airlines Flight 163 is a regularly scheduled domestic operation between Kansas City, Missouri, and Los Angeles, California, with intermediate stops at Topeka and Wichita, Kansas; Amarillo, Texas; Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Las Vegas, Nevada. A scheduled crew change is made at Albuquerque. There, on November 15, 1956. Captain Arthur G. deFabry, First Officer James P. Rapattoni, and Hostess Anne J. Zeman boarded Flight 163 as its crew to complete the remaining segments. The flight was routine to Las Vegas where it landed at 1440. During the short ground time at Las Vegas the aircraft was serviced and the crew performed routine duties for continuation of the flight to Los Angeles. There was no apparent need for maintenance on the aircraft and none was performed. An Instrument Flight Rules flight plan was prepared and filed because of instrument weather conditions over the latter portion of the flight segment to Los Angeles. Weather conditions at Las Vegas, however, were clear. At 1449 Captain deFabry, seated in the captain’s position, taxied N 40404 from the Las Vegas terminal to runup position beside runway 7 where the required pretakeoff checks were accomplished. The aircraft and equipment responded normally. The flight was issued an instrument clearance by Air Route Traffic Control. At this time, according to the company load manifest, the gross weight of the aircraft was 41.801 pounds, well under the maximum allowable for takeoff, 43,650 pounds. The load was properly distributed with respect to the center of gravity limitations of the aircraft. With Captain deFabry operating the aircraft, Flight 163 took off at 1456. The takeoff was routine and was followed by a climbing left turn to gain altitude and establish a southwesterly course toward Los Angeles. At 1501, when over the northern perimeter of the city, First Officer Rapattoni radioed the Las Vegas tower stating the flight was returning to the airport, engine out. The Las Vegas tower controllers immediately notified all other traffic to remain clear and alerted emergency equipment. Flight 163 was cleared to land, any runway, and informed that the wind was calm. Captain deFabry elected to use runway 7 and First Officer Rapattoni notified the tower. Emergency equipment was then dispatched into position on the taxiway parallel to that runway. N40404 was soon observed on a wide base leg for runway 7 and as it turned onto the final approach. Position and altitude of the flight seemed normal. As the aircraft drew closer its extended gear could be seen and its left propeller was clearly visible, stopped and feathered. As the aircraft passed over the runway threshold its alignment position, and altitude seemed good; however, to nearly all observers excessive speed was apparent. The aircraft floated a considerable distance down the runway before touching it. It then bounced several times, after which an application of power was heard, obviously :m an attempt to go around. The Martin climbed, veered to the left, and its left wing gradually lowered. It seemed to “struggle” to continue flight and its airspeed decreased visibly. Seconds later the aircraft struck the ground, left wing low, just inside the airport boundary. Weather conditions at the time of the accident were clear, visibility 65 miles, and the wind was calm. A large cloud of dust, raised by the accident, hung over the scene and gradually lifted nearly vertically in evidence of the calm wind.

Shortly after takeoff from Lowry AFB, while climbing, the aircraft suffered a loss of power on all engines. The captain decided to divert to the nearest Airport, Denver-Stapleton. On final, the airplane stalled and crashed in flames one mile short of runway 17 threshold. All 21 occupants escaped while the aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire.

The crew was performing a flight from Sewart AFB (Smyrna, Tennessee) to Harrisburg-Intl Airport (Olmsted AFB). After passing over Newburg, the crew did not realize his altitude was too low when the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located 7 miles north of the city. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and all four crew members have been killed.

The twin engine aircraft landed too far down a wet runway and was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and came to rest in a ditch. There were no casualties but the airplane was written off.

The Douglas C-124 transport plane departed Lajes AFB, Azores on a flight across the Atlantic Ocean to Bermuda-Kindley Field (NWU). The airplane remained on the ground at Bermuda for two hours. It took off again at 01:50 EST, bound for Charleston AFB, SC (CHS). Over the Azalea intersection the pilot checked and was advised that Charleston weather had deteriorated rapidly, presently 15,000 ft broken, visibility 1/4 mile with ground fog. The captain decided enter a holding pattern over Charleston to wait for the sun to burn off the fog. At approximately 06:30 visibility had slightly increased to 1/2 mile in ground fog. Five minutes later a Delta Air Lines flight landed following an ILS approach. The captain decided to carry out a GCA approach and was cleared for this at 06:35. The descent and final approach were normal until just prior to or reaching GCA minimums. At this time the aircraft got too low and clipped the tops of trees that stood about 68 feet above the ground. This caused a fast torque drop and subsequent loss of the no. 3 engine. The co-pilot then declared an emergency. The propeller of engine no.3 was feathered, the flaps were retracted, and an attempt as made to raise the landing gear. Indications were that the right main gear did not retract, and there was damage to the underside of the aircraft. Prior to the emergency the navigator had been asleep (the crew had been on duty for nearly 20 hours). Thus, he had not been monitoring the approach with radar. Also, he made no attempt to assist with dead reckoning, or in any other way to prevent the pilot from becoming lost. At 06:48, the crew became uncertain of their position. They flew for the next 33 minutes in the vicinity of Charleston AFB, at an altitude of only 800 to 1000 feet, because the aircraft would climb no higher even with max power. The aircraft was lost from GCA search radar, apparently due to the low altitude. The passenger and two crew members were killed while seven other occupants were injured.

The aircraft departed Ent AFB in Colorado Springs and continued to the west. After passing over Buena Vista, the airplane hit the north face of Mt Yale (4,328 meters high) and disintegrated on impact, killing all 12 occupants.
Crew:
Col Charles Arthur Miller, pilot,
Cpt James Joseph Richardson, copilot.
Passengers:
Col Frederick W. Ledeboer,
S/Sgt William E. MacKenzie Jr.,
Oscar M. Rupert (civilian),
A1c William R. Carpenter,
Sgt Phillip Lenz,
M/Sgt Helen M. Schuyler,
Cpt David C. Jacobs,
1st Lt David W. Gill,
Sp3 William L. Simpson,
Pvt William R. Rooney.

En route, the aircraft caught fire, apparently on a wing. The crew elected to return to his base but control was lost. Two crew members were able to bail out and were later recovered while all five other occupants were killed when the airplane crashed along Highway 99, about 9 miles southeast of Madera.

Flight 307 departed Vancouver, British Columbia at 1347 Bering standard time en route to Hong Kong, China, with a refueling stop at Cold Bay, Alaska and an intermediate stop at Tokyo, Japan, carrying a crew of 8 and 14 passengers. At 2011 the flight reported 100 miles out, estimating Cold Bay at 2036. It reported being over the Cold Bay range station outbound on a standard instrument approach at 2035, and at 2042 as completing a procedure turn and proceeding inbound. This was the last transmission from the flight. At 2045 the aircraft was observed to descend from the overcast north of the airport for a landing on runway 14 and cross the field at low altitude to the intersection of the two runways. At this point a shallow left turn was started and the aircraft went out of sight southeast of the airport. Shortly afterwards a fire was observed and it was ascertained that the aircraft had crashed. Eleven passengers and 4 crew members were fatally injured. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire.

Lt. Thorson, pilot, and Lt. Shook, copilot, were scheduled for a local 2 ½ hour training flight in P4Y-2 registered 59695 at 0930LT. Due to marginal VFR conditions, they were briefed to conduct GCA runs and remain in the local pattern until the weather improved. The pilots completed the engine run-up and the take-off checklist (inadvertently missing the flaps). the tower informed the aircraft that the field was VFR and cleared the aircraft for take-off. The aircraft became airborne just prior to reaching the end of the runway in a near level attitude, no more than one to two feet in the air. As it passed the end of the runway and over the waters edge, a drop of about 10 feet, the loss of ground effect caused it to settle immediately. The aircraft settled to the water at full power about 300 feet from the end of the 5,000 foot runway. The aircraft planed on the main gear and belly and settled to a stop about 5,000 yards past the point of initial impact. An orderly ditching procedure followed. All personnel were out of the aircraft in approximately 45 seconds and in life rafts shortly thereafter. The aircraft sank in 175 feet of water in approximately 2 ½ minutes. The personnel were rescued by the NAS Seattle crash boat about 4 minutes later. Lt. Shook and one crewman received minor injuries while vacating the aircraft. During the run-out on the water, the bomb bay doors ripped open and one bomb bay tank was torn loose from the aircraft. All propeller blades were slightly bent from impact with the water. No other damage is believed to have occurred to the aircraft. Salvage operations commenced on August 28, 1956, and the aircraft was raised to the surface on August 31, 1956. However, a shackle pin to the hoisting sling broke while attempting to tow the aircraft ashore and the aircraft again sank to a depth of 210 feet. Lines had been secured to the two inboard engines and the engines broke off at the mounts when the sling shackle pin gave way. Further efforts to salvage the aircraft were abandoned as uneconomical.
Source:
http://www.memorieshop.com/Seattle/LakeWashington/PB4Y-2.html