United States of America

The crew was performing a night training mission and while on approach to Corpus Christi NAS at a height of 400 feet, the aircraft collided with another Mariner registered 69113 and carrying a crew of 12. This second aircraft just took off from the bay when the collision occurred. Both aircraft went out of control and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, some 2,5 miles offshore. On board the first Mariner, five crew members were rescued while all ten other occupants were killed. On the second Mariner, there were no survivor among the 12 occupants.

The crew was completing a delivery flight from Atlanta to California. While cruising at an altitude of 800 feet, the crew encountered engine problems and elected to make an emergency landing when the airplane crashed near Albuquerque. The flight engineer was seriously injured while both pilots were killed.

While flying in a thunderstorm, the aircraft went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in a hilly terrain. All five crew members were killed. It appears there were severe turbulence in the area at the time of the accident.

While flying in a thunderstorm, the aircraft went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in a hilly terrain. All five crew members were killed. It appears there were severe turbulence in the area at the time of the accident.

Enroute, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain located near Page, killing all 14 occupants.

The descent to Elmendorf AFB was started by night and low visibility. As the aircraft was too low, it hit the slope of Mt Chugach located 8 miles southeast of its intended destination. The passenger and a crewman were rescued while five others were killed.

Enroute from Wright Patterson AFB to Minneapolis-Wold-Chamberlain Airport, the crew noticed that the manifold pressure dropped and was unable to resolve the problem. In such situation, the captain decided to reduce his altitude in an attempt to make an emergency landing in a field. Unfortunately, the aircraft attitude was wrong and its speed was too high. The aircraft hit the ground, bounced, hit trees and eventually crash landed. Both pilots and two passengers were injured while six others were killed.

When the crew started the approach to McChord AFB, he was informed that a landing was not possible due to poor weather conditions. The captain decided to return to Fresno but while flying east of Coos Bay, the crew decided to bail out and abandoned the aircraft that crashed in a wooded area located 42 miles east of Coos Bay. Rescuers arrived on site two days later and nine occupants were evacuated. For unknown reason, two people were still in the aircraft and were killed while a third one was never found. The exact cause and circumstances of the accident remains unknown.

Shortly after takeoff, while climbing, the aircraft stalled and crashed 2 miles east of the airport. All four crew members were killed.
Crew:
Pvt Edward H. Dahl,
2nd Lt Richard E. DeMerse,
Sgt Marcus Gluck,
2nd Lt Robert Rakofsky.

Flight 23 departed La Guardia Field at 1842 October 10, 1945, for Miami, Florida, with scheduled stops at Raleigh, N. C., and Jacksonville, Florida. Until landing at Jacksonville, the flight had been of a routine nature. However, during the flight the captain paid particular attention to an oil leak from the right engine which could be seen across the top of the engine cowl. Although the leak appeared to be very slight and had not necessitated excessive refill at either New York or Raleigh, Captain S. E. Stoia reported it to the National Airlines maintenance department at Jacksonville, with instructions that the leak be investigated. The aircraft was removed to a repair hangar and returned to the line after approximately one hour delay during which time two new oil hoses had been replaced. At 0123, October 11, 1945, the flight departed Jacksonville, on an instrument clearance to cruise at 2,000 feet to Miami. In order to avoid a slight turbulence at that flight altitude, Captain Stoia requested change of clearance to 4,000 feet. Approval for change of altitude was obtained after a delay due to traffic, and shortly after passing Daytona Beach, the flight climbed to 4,000 feet. At approximately 0210, First Officer W, S. Blomeley, who was seated in the co-pilot position, called Captain Stoia’s attention to spark which were coming from the right engine. Upon inspecting the engine with a flashlight, it was observed that thick smoke was pouring from under the engine cowl and that a wide band of oil was streaming back over the top of the nacelle. Realizing the danger of an oil fire and being anxious to avoid damage to the engine in the event of complete loss of oil, Captain Stoia immediately shut the engine down and feathered the right propeller. He advised the company station at Jacksonville of his difficulty and elected to continue to Melbourne, Florida, about 15 miles away for an emergency landing. Upon reaching Melbourne, however, the flight was advised by Melbourne Tower that the runway lights were inoperative and that considerable delay would be necessary before the mobile flood light apparatus would be available. Captain Stoia decided, therefore, to proceed to Banana River, 11 miles north, and Banana River Operations was advised by the Melbourne Tower Operator of his intentions and requested to prepare for his arrival. Although the captain had tuned to the Banana River Tower frequency, the tower was not equipped to receive the company frequency and two-way conversation was, therefore, not possible. As the flight approached the Banana River Naval Air Station, the captain observed that runway No. 6 was lighted, and being unable to establish radio contact with the tower, he assumed that it was the direction of landing intended. However, shortly before the aircraft arrived over the field, the tower personnel changed the runway lights to No. 15 since that runway was the longest one available at Banana River. The aircraft passed over the field at an altitude of 1500 feet, but the traffic pattern established by the flight was too close to the landing area, and, when on the final approach, Captain Stoia realized he was too high for a landing. When over the edge of the field at 300 feet with full flaps and gear extended and the airspeed at 100 mph, the captain decided to go around for another approach. Forty inches of manifold pressure was applied with full low pitch, the gear was fully retracted, and the flaps were retracted to the 30% position. During the missed approach procedure the captain intentionally held a nose-low attitude in order to accelerate to a normal climb airspeed; however, in spite of the loss of altitude, no increase in airspeed indication was obtained, and the aircraft continued to lose altitude while maintaining a straight course. Approximately 1/2 mile south southeast of the field, the aircraft struck the ground in a fairly level attitude longitudinally. The right wing made the first impact, the aircraft subsequently turning approximately 270 degrees as it skidded to a stop.