World | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

While the flight was en route between Okinawa and the Philippine Islands, the No. 2 engine experienced an appreciable power loss followed by overspeeding of the propeller. The crew instituted emergency procedures but was unable to control or feather the propeller. The propeller separated from the engine with a resulting nose section fire. Attempts to extinguish the fire failed, and the crew elected to ditch the aircraft. The ditching was accomplished at night during a rainstorm and while under Instrument conditions. All 58 occupants, including the 7 crew members, successfully evacuated the aircraft. Of these, 44 suffered minor injuries and one woman passenger died.

Probable cause:

The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the internal failure of No. 2 engine, resulting in oil contamination, loss of oil supply, subsequent loss of the No. 2 propeller assembly, and fire-in-flight, which necessitated a ditching.

Final Report:

Crash of an Airspeed AS.65 Consul into the Atlantic Ocean

Date & Time: May 25, 1960 at 1700 LT

Type of aircraft:

Airspeed AS.65 Consul

Operator:

Registration:

EC-AJV

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

El Aaiun - Las Palmas

MSN:

4339

YOM:

1946

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

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Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The twin engine aircraft departed Al Aaiun Airport at 1605LT on a schedule flight to Las Palmas-Gando, Canary Islands. Less than one hour later, while cruising, the left engine hydraulic pressure dropped. Unable to maintain a safe altitude, the pilot ditched the airplane about 74 km east of the Canary coast. All four occupants were rescued while the airplane sank and was lost.

Probable cause:

Failure of the left engine in flight due to hydraulic pressure issue.

Crash of a Boeing KC-97F-17-BO Stratotanker off Florida: 2 killed

Date & Time: Mar 30, 1960 at 2015 LT

Type of aircraft:

Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker

Operator:

Registration:

51-0363

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Military

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Stephenville - McDill

MSN:

16430

YOM:

1951

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

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Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

On a flight from Stephenville to McDill AFB in Tampa, while cruising along the Florida coast, the crew encountered heavy winds and was forced to ditch the aircraft in rough seas about 43 miles off Cape Canaveral. Two crew members were killed and 12 others were rescued.

Crash of a Curtiss C-46A-40-CU Commando into the Caribbean Sea: 45 killed

Date & Time: Dec 8, 1959 at 1200 LT

Type of aircraft:

Curtiss C-46 Commando

Operator:

Registration:

HK-515

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Charter/Taxi (Non Scheduled Revenue Flight)

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

San Andrés – Cartagena – Medellín

MSN:

26941

YOM:

1944

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Twenty minutes after his departure from San Andrés Island, while cruising at an altitude of 9,500 feet, the captain informed ATC about his position vertical to PC-2 beacon in good weather conditions. This was the last radio transmission. SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended three days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 45 occupants was found. Eight days later, some equipment of the right main gear were found on a beach of the Moron Island in Panama.

Probable cause:

Due to the lack of evidence, investigations were unable to determine the exact cause of the accident.

Crash of a Douglas SC-47A in the Mediterranean Sea: 1 killed

Date & Time: Jun 7, 1959

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

43-15689

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Military

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

MSN:

20155

YOM:

1944

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

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Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Message from Penny Black, daughter of the pilot, Captain Guy Marshall Allphin, who was killed in the accident:
My dad did land the plane. The propeller broke off upon landing. The crew put him in a life boat, pulled it over the door that was laying on the ground of the plane and punctured the life boat. My dad called in their coordinates before he had to put the plane down and all were rescued within about 30 minutes. They were flying into a jiblee storm and it used up more fuel and they actually ran out of gas. The plane had the radio from the Lady Be Good in it. The Lady Be Good was found in the Sahara desert in 1959 it went down during WWII, in 1944. They over shot Tripoli and the crew tried to walk out of the desert. I believe they found the remains of all but one of the crew members. Anyhow, they called The Lady Be Good the jinx plane because they took parts from it placed them in other planes and some of those planes went down. As I mentioned above, the C47 that my dad was flying had the radio from the Lady Be Good.
My sincere thanks to Penny Black for her contribution.

Probable cause:

Emergency landing caused by a fuel exhaustion.

Crash of an Avro 696 Shackleton MR.1 into the South China Sea: 11 killed

Date & Time: Dec 9, 1958

Type of aircraft:

Avro 696 Shackleton

Operator:

Registration:

VP254

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Survey / Patrol / Reconnaissance

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Labuan - Labuan

YOM:

1950

Location:

Country:

Region:

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Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

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Circumstances:

The aircraft left Labuan Airport in the day on a maritime patrol flight over the South China Sea, carrying a crew of ten and one police officer. While cruising at low height over the sea, the airplane hit the water surface and crashed. Few hours later, some debris of the airplane and personal effects from the crew were spotted floating on water, about 450 km north of Labuan. All 11 occupants have been killed.

Probable cause:

It is believed the accident was caused by a wrong optical perception of the water surface on part of the flying crew as the water had a crystalline appearance. Wrong perception of the situation and poor judgement of the distance between the airplane and the water surface. It was reported that the captain did not conduct any mission at low height since a long time. Also, the lack of experience of the copilot on this type of aircraft was also reported as he was just appointed on Shackleton from Short Sunderland.

Crash of a Martin PBM-5A Mariner into the Atlantic Ocean: 36 killed

Date & Time: Nov 9, 1958 at 1321 LT

Type of aircraft:

Martin PBM Mariner

Operator:

Aero Topografica

Registration:

CS-THB

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Lisbon – Funchal

MSN:

45409

YOM:

1944

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total flying hours:

10671

Copilot / Total flying hours:

3367

Copilot / Total hours on type:

890

Aircraft flight hours:

2240

Circumstances:

The airplane was schedule to leave Lisbon at 0700LT but the departure was postponed to midday due to poor weather conditions. It finally left Lisbon-Cabo Ruivo Seaplane Base at 1223LT bound for Funchal, Madeira Island. Shortly after takeoff, the crew was cleared to climb to 8,000 feet and 17 minutes later, the pilot requested the permission to descent to 6,000 feet. At 1321LT, the captain was able to send a brief message 'QUG emergency'. As nothing further was heard from the crew, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 36 occupants was found. The brevity of the message "QUG EMERGENCY" in which QUG means in the international code 'I am forced to alight immediately' and the absence of an answer to questions, show that there was an abnormal situation on board. The signal "QUG" may also mean, "I will be forced to alight at. . . ' when followed by the indication of the place where the alighting will probably take place.

Probable cause:

Due to lack of evidence, the exact cause of the accident could not be determined with certainty. However, the assumption that the accident may have been the result of an explosion or a major technical issue was not ruled out.

Final Report:

Crash of an Avro 685 York I into the Mediterranean Sea: 5 killed

Date & Time: Sep 29, 1958

Type of aircraft:

Avro 685 York

Operator:

Registration:

OD-ADB

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Beirut – Rome – London

MSN:

1307

YOM:

1946

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The crew was completing a cargo flight from Beirut to London with in an intermediate stop at Ciampino Airport in Rome. While cruising over the Mediterranean Sea, the four engine aircraft went out of control and crashed into the sea. The crew was unable to send any distress call prior to the accident. SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the five crew members was found.

Probable cause:

In the absence of concrete evidence, investigations were unable to determine a possible cause of the accident.

Crash of a Douglas C-124C Globemaster II into the Philippines Sea: 19 killed

Date & Time: Sep 2, 1958 at 0610 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-124 Globemaster II

Operator:

Registration:

52-1081

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Military

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Andersen - Clark

MSN:

43990

YOM:

1952

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Shortly after takeoff from Andersen AFB, the crew obtained the permission to climb to 8,000 feet. Few minutes later, the airplane crashed into the Philippines Sea about 55 km west of Guam Island. Few debris were found floating on water but all 19 occupants have been killed.

Probable cause:

The exact cause of the accident could not be determined with certainty. However, it is believed that a sudden and intense fire erupted in the cabin in flight and none of the occupant was able to extinguish it. The fire then spread rapidly, causing the aircraft to be out of control.

Crash of a Lockheed L-1049H-01-06-162 Super Constellation into the Atlantic Ocean: 99 killed

Date & Time: Aug 14, 1958 at 0345 LT

Type of aircraft:

Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation

Operator:

Registration:

PH-LKM

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Amsterdam – Shannon – Gander – New York

MSN:

4841

YOM:

1958

Flight number:

KL607E

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Aircraft flight hours:

886

Circumstances:

While cruising at an altitude of 4,000 meters by night, the crew contacted ATC to report his position and all was ok on board. About ten minutes later, the airplane disappeared from radar screens and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 180 km northwest of the Irish coast. SAR operations were dispatched on the scene and several debris and bodies were found in the early morning. All operations were suspended after few days and all 99 occupants were considered as deceased.

Probable cause:

On the basis of the evidence available and the investigation of possible serious threats to safety, the Board cannot establish the cause of the accident with certainty. Moreover, investigation of the possibility that the cause of the accident may have been a bomb explosion has yielded no conclusive facts to support such a hypothesis. The statements in the press to this effect have either been based on misunderstandings or else were tendentious. On the other hand, the Board attributes a high degree of probability to hypothesis that the cause of the accident is related to 'overspeeding' of one of the outboard propellers resulting from oil pollution after a gear had been damaged when the supercharger of the corresponding engine was accelerated (shifted). This probably took place close to the time of the accident. The overspeeding of the propeller, owing to the obstruction of metal particles in the regulator valves may have been such as to cause the propeller pitch to decrease and the propeller could not be feathered. The condition might provoke a flight disturbance which could be corrected only by prompt and powerful handling of aileron and rudder controls. in view of the rapidity with which this defect develops and taking into account that recognition of the nature of this malfunction requires a certain time, it is not always possible for the crew to intervene early enough to restore conditions of controlled flight. With respect to the presumed cause of the accident the Board has no grounds to suppose that the occurrence of the presumed malfunction might be attributable to neglect on the part of maintenance personnel or to incorrect measures taken by the crew or that the crew had been at fault in piloting the aircraft after the malfunction had occurred.

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