Ambulance

The twin engine airplane was engaged in an ambulance flight from Burgas to Stuttgart on behalf of the German Air Rescue Service (Deutsche Rettungsflugwacht - DRF), carrying one German patient aged 63, three medical staff and two pilots. During initial climb, the crew contacted ATC and reported technical problems with the automatic pilot system. Shortly later, control was lost and the airplane crashed in an open field. The airplane was totally destroyed upon impact and all six occupants were killed. The exact cause of the autopilot system failure remains unknown. Nevertheless, it was reported that both pilots were intoxicated at the time of the accident, with an alcohol level of 0,48‰ et 0,37‰ respectively.

Following the crash of a Patricia Air Transport DC-3 at Pickle Lake earlier that day, the operator dispatched a Beaver with a passenger and a pilot on an ambulance mission. While approaching Pickle Lake, the single engine aircraft went out of control and crashed under unknown circumstances into Pickle Lake about 5 km off the airfield. Both occupants were rescued.

While taking off from Ingelara Airstrip, the twin engine airplane crashed in unknown circumstances. It was damaged beyond repair and all four occupants were rescued. The airplane was completing an ambulance flight.

Crashed in unknown circumstances at Kalengwa Airport. There were no casualties.

On approach to Sønderborg Airport while completing an ambulance flight, the twin engine airplane went out of control and crashed into the Augustenborg Fjord. A young female passenger aged 14 and a nurse were able to swim to the shore while the airplane sank. Its wreckage was found four days later, on November 11, and all three other occupants were killed.

The twin engine airplane departed Cambridge Bay on a mercy flight to Yellowknife, carrying two Inuit patients and a nurse. In unknown circumstances, the aircraft crashed near Hottah Lake, in the region of Great Bear Lake, some 300 km north of Yellowknife. The nurse and a patient were killed while the pilot and the second patient, a boy aged 14, were injured. As the pilot suffered broken bones, the boy helped keep him alive by building a fire and shelter. The pilot resorted to eating flesh from one of the dead passengers while the boy abstained. About three weeks after the accident, the boy died of hunger and cold. On December 7, 1972 a Hercules on a routine mission picked up the ELT of the crashed plane. Shortly after two rescue specialists were dropped but unfortunately only the pilot was still alive.

Crashed in unknown circumstances. The occupant fate remains unknown.

Shortly after takeoff from Nueva Gerona Airport, the single engine aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances near a beach located about 6 km northeast of the city. The aircraft was destroyed and all six occupants were killed. The airplane was completing an ambulance flight to the capital city, carrying a child who should be transferred to hospital after being victim of a criminal act. The name of the operator and the registration remains unknown.

The HU-16B Albatross flying boat was deployed to rescue two crew members of a downed McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom off Haiphong in the Gulf of Tonkin. The Albatross landed in the sea close to the shoreline. It was quickly approached by several North Vietnamese boats. They began to open fire on the Albatross, finally firing a mortar shell. They flying boat burst into flames. The survivors were later rescued by Navy helicopters.
Crew:
Cpt David P. Westenbarger,
Lt Walter Hall,
Cpt Donald Price,
S/Sgt Clyde Jackson,
A1C Robert Larie Hilton, †
A1C James Edward Pleiman. †
Source: Chris Hobson & Joe Baugher.

The crew was completing an ambulance flight from Reykjavik to Neskaupstađur. While approaching Neskaupstađur by night and in poor weather conditions, the twin engine aircraft went out of control and crashed into the sea few km offshore. The aircraft was lost and both pilots were killed.