World

Lost into the Pacific Ocean while on a flight from Baker Island to Makin Atoll, in the Gilbert Islands. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was ever found.

Lost without trace while on a flight from Nouméa-la Tontouta Airport to Luganville-Santo-Pekoa Airfield.

The aircraft left RAF Lyneham at 2230LT on a transit flight to Gibraltar but failed to arrive. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found and it is believed it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean or the Bay of Biscay.
Crew (512th Squadron):
W/Cdr Patrick E. Hadow,
F/O R. L. Hammill,
LAC Charles W. Summers,
W/O Cyril Frederick Dean Steel.

Short Sunderland flying boat T228 took off from RAF Station Pembroke Dock at 0715LT on 24 December 1943 to carry out an anti-submarine patrol. At 1225LT a distress signal was received from the aircraft. At this time T228 was over a force of enemy destroyers and in company of another Sunderland. At 1310LT a message was received from the other Sunderland aircraft which stated that wreckage of a Sunderland aircraft had been sighted and one survivor seen on the wing float of the aircraft. A dinghy was dropped but the survivor disappeared a few minutes later. Although the crew of the accompanying aircraft did not actually see T228 shot down, it was believed that T228 was shot down by an enemy surface vessel.
Source:
http://www.aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19431224-0

The seaplane left RAF Pembroke Dock at 2345LT on December 18 on a routine flight to Gibraltar with 19 crew members on board (two complete crews and reinforcements to the squadron as passengers). While cruising by night some 30 miles off the Saint-Vincent Cape located on the southwest coast of Portugal, the crew was able to send a distress IFF signal that was received by the crew of a second Short Sunderland which was following DW106. Despite intense SAR operations, no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found.
Crew (270th Squadron):
F/O Vernon Maurice Sparkes,
F/Sgt Charles Albert Mark Barber,
F/Lt John Eric Wood,
F/Sgt Frederic Raymond Brown,
F/O Edward James Jay,
F/Sgt Francis Mcphee,
F/O Reginald Robert Terance Crump,
F/Sgt Eric Piggott Botting,
P/O Neil Procter Chapman,
F/O Norman Edmond Hanna,
Sgt Stanley Kidd,
F/O Raymond John Elderfield,
Sgt William Henry Cryer,
Sgt William Peter Houston,
Sgt Henry Leonard Thompson,
Sgt Maurice Robert Hunt,
Sgt Edmund Albert Hooker,
Sgt Samuel Hughes,
F/Sgt Leslie Robinson.
Source:
http://www.landinportugal.org/air_pages/a01_copy(133).htm

The crew left Minneriya Airport in Sri Lanka for a maritime patrol mission of 18 hours over the Bay of Bengal. En route, an engine failed, forcing the crew to ditch the aircraft. All 11 occupants were rescued while the aircraft sank one hour after the accident.

The float plane left Killadeas NAS, Northern Ireland, on a training mission over the Atlantic Ocean when he crashed in unknown circumstances into the ocean. No trace of the aircraft nor the 9 crew members was ever found.
Crew (131st OTU):
F/O Francis Peter Graves,
Sgt Robert Anderson,
Sgt Edwin Alfred Dennis Barnes,
Sgt Earl Darragh Morrison,
Sgt Alexander Fordyce Sutherland,
Sgt Allan Douglas Warder,
Sgt John Glynne Williams,
Sgt Owen Douglas Hodgkison,
Sgt John George Ley.

The crew left RAF Enniskillen at 1145LT on a bombing mission over the Atlantic Ocean. Following the attack of the German U-Boat registered U-648, the crew gained altitude and left the combat area. Approximately one hour later, the crew sent several mayday messages and informed ground that he was forced to attempt an emergency landing. The captain ditched the aircraft some 900 km west off Vigo, Spain, around 1745LT. SAR operations were deployed but no trace of the aircraft nor the 11 crew was ever found.
Crew:
F/Sgt Bruce Goulden Burton,
F/Sgt Robert Aird Park,
Sgt Norman Percival Cook,
Sgt Ronald Montague Fisher,
Sgt Noel Neil Lewis,
Sgt Walter McKay,
F/O Charles Gordon Gorrie,
F/O Wilfred Sydney Johnston,
F/O Robert Harry Strauss,
F/O Jan David Butler Ulrichsen,
F/Sgt Norman Barrett.

The crew left Rabat at 2340LT on November 17 bound for RAF Coningsby. While overflying the Bay of Biscay north of the Portuguese coast, the aircraft was lost around 0555LT, probably after being shot down by a German fighter. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found.
Crew (617th Squadron):
F/Lt E. E. G. Youseman, pilot,
F/S S. Wittingham,
F/O E. Fleshka,
F/O W. C. Grimes,
W/O A. Laughland,
F/Sgt R. Florence,
W/O J. B. O'Grady.

During a maritime patrol mission, while circling around a merchant ship, the seaplane went out of control and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, killing all eight crew members.