Saint John's

The crew was completing a charter flight from Keflavik to Saint John's, Newfoundland. En route, both engines failed simultaneously due to fuel exhaustion. The crew elected to make an emergency landing when the airplane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 160 km east of Saint John's. All three occupants were killed in the accident.

PanAm Flight PA292 was a scheduled service from Fort-de-France, Martinique to New York with en route stops at Saint John's, Antigua, Christiansted, St Croix, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. An IFR flight plan had been filed for the 30-minute leg to Antigua. Cruising altitude would be FL165. The airplane christened 'Clipper Constitution' departed Fort-de-France's runway 27 at 0704LT. Cruising altitude was reached at 0709. The crew established radio contact with the Antigua controller at 0715. The controller cleared the flight to the Coolidge NDB beacon at 2 500 feet and told the crew to report at the beacon outbound leaving 2 500 feet or field in sight. At approximately 0725 the flight reported through FL40 with the field not yet in sight. At the same time the airplane was observed flying along the coast of the island of Montserrat in rain and below the clouds with landing gear down and flaps partially extended. Shortly afterwards the airplane struck a mountain at an elevation of 2 760 feet asl and 242 feet below the summit. The airplane was totally destroyed and all 30 occupants have been killed. Weather was poor at the time of the accident with thunderstorms activity, towering cumulus and heavy rain falls.

After touchdown at Golden Rock Airport, the four engine airplane encountered difficulties to stop within the remaining distance, overran, lost its undercarriage and came to a halt. There were no casualties among the occupants but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Capt. Jacob Pruett Jr., Capt Orion Clark, Brigadier General Richard Ellsworth, Major Frank Wright and a crew of nineteen took off in RB-36H, 51-13721 of the 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (Heavy) from Lajes Airdrome in the Azores at 0000 Zulu (11:00 PM Azores time) on March 18, 1953. Their destination was their home base of Rapid City Air Force Base, South Dakota. Their flight path took them across the Atlantic Ocean and over Newfoundland. The flight was expected to take 25 hours. The pre-flight weather briefing indicated that their flight path would take them to the south of a low pressure zone. The counter-clockwise rotation of the low would produce headwinds that were forecast to average 17 knots from 300 degrees. General Ellsworth and Major Wright were not current in take-offs and landings, so Capt. Jacob Pruett Jr. and Capt Orion Clark were probably at the controls during the take-off. Major Wright then moved into the pilot's seat on the left and General Ellsworth got into the co-pilot's seat on the right. Major Wright and General Ellsworth flew the over water portion of the flight about 1,000 feet off the water for best range performance. They monitored their altitude above the water with the radar altimeter as they flew through the darkness. The navigator intended to turn on the mapping radar an hour before the time that he expected the RB-36H to reach land. The pilots planned to climb to an altitude that would carry the RB-36H safely over the mountains of Newfoundland while they were still 20 miles from land. Most of the flight was flown in overcast conditions that prevented the navigator from using the sextant for a celestial observation to determine the true position of the airplane. The low pressure zone moved south of its predicted position before the RB-36H reached its vicinity. The airplane passed to the north of the low. Instead of the anticipated headwinds, the airplane encountered tailwinds that averaged 12 knots from 197 degrees. Ocean station delta received a position update from the RB-36H at 0645Z. The navigator reported that the ground speed of the airplane was 130 knots. The position was in error by 138 nautical miles, and the true ground speed was closer to 185 knots. The RB-36H reached Newfoundland about 1-1/2 hours earlier than expected. The crew made no attempt to contact air defense when they were fifty miles off shore. The navigator did not turn on the radar. The pilots continued to fly at low altitude. In the last twenty minutes of the flight, the ground speed averaged 202 knots. The visibility was less than 1/8-mile as the airplane flew straight and level through sleet, freezing drizzle, and fog. At 0740Z (4:10 AM Newfoundland time), thirty miles after crossing the coastline the RB-36H struck an 896-foot tall ridge at an elevation of 800 feet. The six whirling propellers chopped the tops off numerous pine trees before the left wing struck the ground. The left wing ripped off of the airplane, and spilled fuel ignited a huge fireball. The fuselage and right wing impacted 1,000 feet beyond the left wing. The entire crew was killed on impact. Wreckage was strewn for 3/4-mile across the hillside. U. S. Air Force 1st Lt Dick Richardson heard the RB-36H approaching his cabin at Nut Cove. The sound of the engines stopped suddenly, to be replaced by a loud explosion. Richardson reported that, "Everything lit up real bright". He could see a fire burning on the hillside above. He woke up the other men on the hill. They boiled up the kettle and sent a search party up to the crash site through deep snow. They found no survivors. Following this tragedy, the Rapid City airbase will be renamed Ellsworth AFB to honor the general.
Crew:
Cpt Jacob Pruett Jr.,
Cpt Orion Clark,
Br Gen Richard Ellsworth,
Maj Frank Wright,
Cpt Stuart Fauhl,
Cpt Harold Smith,
Cpt William Maher,
1st Lt Edwin Meader,
1st Lt James Pace,
Maj John Murray,
1st Lt James Powell Jr.,
A2cC Robert Nall,
1st Lt Clifford Bransdor,
M/Sgt Jack Winegardner,
A2cC Morris Rogers,
T/Sgt Walter Pinski,
A1c Burse Vaughn,
S/Sgt Ira Beard,
S/Sgt Robert Ullom,
A2c Phillip Mancos Jr.,
A2c Keith Hoppons,
A1c Theodore Kuzik,
T/Sgt Jack Maltsberger.
Source:
http://www.air-and-space.com/b-36 wrecks.htm#51-13721

On final approach to Stephenville Airport by night, the four engine aircraft hit the ground and crashed 1,5 km short of runway threshold. A passenger was rescued while 13 other occupants were killed. For unknown reason, the crew was completing the approach at an insufficient altitude.

En route, an engine failed, forcing the crew to ditch the aircraft about 500 km southeast of Saint John's. The airplane crashed near a US Coast Guard ship. All four crew members were rescued while the aircraft sank and was lost.

On touchdown, the single engine aircraft went out of control and came to rest on the runway edge. The pilot was slightly injured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. He was completing a mail flight from New York.

The twin engine airplane departed St John's (Torbay) Airport on a maritime patrol flight with a crew of four on board. While returning to base, the crew encountered bad weather when one of the engine failed after the carburetor got iced. The pilot made a wheels up landing in dead timber in East Newfoundland. All four crew members were rescued in February and transferred to local hospital in good condition. The airplane was damaged beyond repair.
Crew:
F/Lt A. S. Pilcher, pilot,
Sgt H. A. Wishart, copilot,
Sgt H. F. Taylor, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt L. A. McGregor, wireless operator and air gunner.

The pilot was attempting a transatlantic flight from Canada to England. Shortly after takeoff from Saint John's-Lester Field Airport, bound for Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, the single engine aircraft stalled and crashed, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was seriously injured.

British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown were performing one of the first transatlantic crossflight from the US to Europe. The aircraft departed Saint John’s-Lester Field, Newfoundland, on 14JUN1919 at 1345LT. Following an uneventful flight of 15 hours and 57 minutes at an altitude of 12,000 feet and at an average speed of 185 km/h, both pilots reached the Irish coast on the morning of June 15. While landing in an open field located in Clifden, Galway, the twin engine aircraft nosed down and came to rest. Both pilots were slightly injured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.