Military

Crashed in Sambhar following a fuel exhaustion. No casualties.

Shortly after take off from RAF Smith's Lawn, the twin engine aircraft encountered serious difficulties to gain height. It eventually hit trees located at the end of the terrain and crashed in a wooded area. The aircraft was destroyed while all four occupants were slightly injured.
Crew:
F/L John W. Smith.
Passengers:
Cpt Edward Cummings,
Lt Irving T. Golden,
Lt Joseph Luria.

The aircraft left Port Moresby-Wards Airport in early morning and completed the initial climb in poor visibility. After few minutes, it hit the slope of a mountain located 13 km west of the airport and was destroyed by impact forces. All 15 occupants were killed. Qantas, the Australian National career, was performing this flight on behalf of the Royal Australian Air Force and all passengers were US and RAAF soldiers and officers. By date, this crash is considered as the worst accident for Qantas since its foundation.
Crew:
S/L William Geoffrey Campbell, pilot,
P/O John Randolph Fleming Henderson, copilot,
F/Sgt Neil Grosvenor Evan, radio operator,
P/O Keith George Shankland Little, purser.
Passengers:
Robert E. Lewis,
Harry H. Poague,
Lt Col C. V. Ferry,
Lt Col Edward John Marston,
Maj J. F. McCarthy,
Lt Col John Benedict Bolger,
2nd Lt John E. Brown,
S/Sgt Vincent W. Novak,
Cpt John W. Baish,
Col Frank O. Dewey,
F/Sgt Leslie Harold Jenke.

En route, a fire erupted in the cockpit and the crew tried to extinguish the fire without success. Intoxicated by smoke, pilots lost control of the aircraft that crashed in flames on the Mt Ushkanyi, some 55 km west of Uelkal. Rescuers arrived on site three days later and all four occupants were killed.

Few minutes after departure from Algiers-Maison Blanche Airport, while cruising over the Mediterranean Sea, the right engine caught fire. The captain ordered the crew to bail out but the aircraft lost height rapidly and crashed into the sea some 35 km west of Algiers. The crew of a French fishing boat was able to rescue three crew members while seven others were killed. The aircraft sank and was lost.
Crew killed were:
1st Lt Ernest W. Dvorak,
Pvt Gomer Jones,
1st Lt Jerome B. Jordan Jr.,
1st Lt Michael J. Lagio,
2nd Lt Rachel H. Sheridan,
1st Lt John R. Southerlin,
S/Sgt George Vilen.

Lost without trace in Indochina. At least one crew member, Cpl Florian Sticka, was killed.

The aircraft , call-sign "675-Baker-253", took off from Noumea-La Tontouta Airport, bound for Espiritu Santo. Radio contact was established at 0810LT but the aircraft failed to respond to a scheduled call at 0910LT. Two days later, damaged gear and some personal effects from the plane were found in Nakety Bay. A cold front had passed through the New Caledonia area in the early hours of the morning of the 23rd bringing a cloud layer at 2 to 4 thousand feet and a visibility of 4 to 6 miles, with 3 miles in heavier rain. The route was considered flyable on instruments and several aircraft flew it that day without the pilots reporting any difficulty with the weather conditions. The bodies of the 6 crew-members and 19 passengers (3 RNZAF and 16 USMC from VMTB-232) were never found.
Source:
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19431123-0

En route, the crew encountered low visibility due to misty weather. The aircraft was too low and his the slope of a hill before coming to rest. A crew member (A. F. R. Rooks) was killed while 18 other occupants were slightly injured.

The crew was completing a flight from Fort-Benning-Lawson AFB, Georgia, to Willow Grove NAS, Pennsylvania, where he should take delivery of a glider that must be towed to the Maxton AFB. While approaching Washington DC by night, weather conditions deteriorated and the crew decided to divert to the Barnsville Airport. Due to low visibility, he was unable to localize this airport and followed a holding circuit when the aircraft hit the Mt Locust located less than a mile west of Tamaqua. Two passengers were seriously injured while seven other occupants were killed.
Crew:
1st Lt George A. Blanchard,
Cpt Bernard Cederholm,
2nd Lt George J. Fritsche Jr.,
Pvt Edmund J. Gaydos,
1st Lt Paul A. Gregory Jr.,
T/Sgt Emmett W. Johnson,
Sgt Manuel Lorber.

The aircraft christened 'Star Duster' left Port Moresby bound for Brisbane with intermediate stops in Cairns, Townsville and Rockhampton. About 6,700 pounds of cargo were boarded in Garbutt Airfield near Townsville and some mail was loaded in Rockhampton. On the last leg to Brisbane, while cruising west of Monto, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and lost control of the aircraft that crashed in a canyon. As the aircraft was declared missing, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. On June 22, 1948, a local found the wreckage in a steep wooded gully located between two high hills west of Monto. The right wing was found in 1961 some one km from the main wreckage and other debris such a door and stabilizer were found in 1991.
Crew (374th TCG):
1st Lt Victor N. Gibson, pilot,
2nd Lt Michael L. Reitman, copilot,
S/Sgt Everett L. Ahmann, flight engineer,
Cpl John F. Guigo, radio operator.
Passengers:
Tec Albert E. Peglow,
T/Sgt T.G. Cucciaro,
A/Sgt Hugh John McClean,
Sgt Philip Ernest Nicholls,
Gun Thomas Layton Vinecombe,
Sgt Jack Ernest Kerr,
Sgt Albert William Lawrence,
F/O Frank McLaurin Bartlett,
LAC Hector Richard Hore.
Source & photos: http://www.ozatwar.com/ozcrashes/qld58.htm