Survey / Patrol / Reconnaissance

The crew was involved in a SAR mission following the crash of a USAF C-47 on December 9. In unknown circumstances, the B-17 crash landed in an icecap. While the aircraft was damaged beyond repair and abandoned on site, all six crew members were rescued by the crew of a ski equipped C-47 on December 27, 1948.

Crashed in unknown circumstances into the sea five NM north of Falcon Cape, northwest off Oran while performing a maritime patrol flight. All eight crew members were killed.
Crew:
François Faure, pilot,
Jean Boulicaut,
René Bresson 5.

While conducting a reconnaissance mission for a missing B-29 & its crew from the 23rd Reconnaissance Squadron since November 7, 1948, the aircraft suffered multiple failures of its navigation & radio systems and eventually run out of fuel. The captain ditched the aircraft in shallow water off Fais Island, about 250 km northeast of Yap Island. The aircraft sank and was lost while all ten crew members were later rescued by the crew of a Navy Catalina.

The crew was engaged in a SAR mission after a RAF Spitfire was missing since that morning. While cruising at low height, the aircraft hit with one of its wings some tree tops, stalled and crashed in a wooded area. All five crew members were killed.

While on approach to Port Moller harbor, the seaplane crashed in unknown circumstances in the sea (nine miles off shore?). The wreckage was not found and all 12 occupants were presumed dead.

The crew was engaged in a reconnaissance mission in the region of the Franz Josef archipelago. While returning to Amderma, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with strong headwind, fog and low visibility. In such conditions, the crew lost his orientation and deviated from the prescribed flight path to the west by 210 km. As fuel seemed to be insufficient to reach Amderma under these conditions, the captain decided to divert to Novaya Zemlya, but failed to regain orientation and missed Novaya Zemlya while flying through the Kara Straits. After being in the air for 15 hours and 12 minutes, the aircraft ran out of fuel. The crew prepared for a ditching in high seas in the Barents Sea between Varandei island, Matveyev Island and Cape Medynski Zavorot by night. An empty dinghy was found few days later but no trace of the seven crew members nor the aircraft that was lost. It was determined that the crew was able to evacuate the cabin but probably did not survive to the extreme outside conditions. Investigators did not understand why the operator and the pilots decided to perform such mission in such conditions with this type of aircraft that was not suitable for this.

The seaplane crashed in unknown circumstances into the Río Santa Cruz off Puerto Santa Cruz. A dead body was found five days later, on September 19, and a second dead body a day later. Unfortunately, no trace of the others nor the aircraft was found.
Crew:
Lt José Jubany, pilot,
Cpl Angel Cruz, radio operator,
Cpl Antonio Micaelan,
Cpl Ramón Gonzáles,
Ens Roberto Balestra.

The plane took off from Stavanger-Sola Airport and flew on contact along the coastline northwards in the direction of Herdla island, north of Bergen. The altitude was about 100 meters just below the clouds. When passing over the Marsteinen lighthouse, course was set towards Bergen and they climbed to 200 m. Shortly after the plane hit the mountain Førdesveten just below the summit. The whole crew of nine and four passengers were killed. Two passengers in the tail section escaped with injuries. The aircraft had the dual registration K-AK and JX412.
Crew:
Lt Klaus Døscher, pilot
Sgt Rolf Mikkelsen, copilot,
Lt Walther Wangberg, navigator,
Thor K. Johnsen, wireless operator,
Sgt Haakon Haaland, wireless operator,
Egil N. Fauske, wireless operator,
Sgt Christoffer Kjellsen, mechanic,
Sgt Jens Oskar Jensen, air gunner,
Sgt Magnus Dyngeland, mechanic.
Passengers:
Andreas Ekedal, †
Cpt Alf Tollefsen, †
Sgt Bjørn Ørland, †
Knut Gjerde, †
Inge Sviland,
Willy Nilsen.
Source:
http://flyblader.com/onewebmedia/Nr 9 Catalina.pdf

The crew was engaged in a maritime patrol flight over the North Sea. While flying over Scotland, the crew encountered poor visibility when the twin engine aircraft hit the slope of a mountain near Auchenblae. All six crew members were killed.

An Aeroflot LI-2 registered CCCP-L4279 made an emergency landing near Tynda on April 20. A day later, a Deputy from the Amur Region decided to conduct a mission to help and forced the crew to takeoff despite the fact that weather conditions were below minima. The aircraft left Takhtamygda Airport at 1550LT. About twenty minutes later, the right engine failed. The crew was forced to feather the propeller and the captain decided to return to his departure point. Shortly later, while losing altitude, the aircraft hit tree tops with its propeller while the left elevator hit a telephone pole. The aircraft stalled and crashed. Three crew members, among them the captain, were killed while three other occupants were injured.