Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3) | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

The aircraft departed Bulki at 1204LT on a flight to Jimma, carrying a crew of three, eight passengers and a load of coffee. On approach, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions and as the airplane was too low, it struck the slope of a mountain located about 27 km south of the airfield. Ten occupants were injured while one of the pilot was killed.

Probable cause:

The accident was caused by the following:
- The pilot misjudged the weather conditions in that he continued to fly into deteriorating weather conditions while trying to maintain visual flight rules,
- He misjudged the performance capabilities of the aircraft in that he attempted to climb at a speed below the minimum safe climbing speed of the aircraft.

Crash of a Douglas C-47A-DL off Cotabato City

Date & Time: Jul 14, 1960

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

PI-C16

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Dipolog – Zamboanga City

MSN:

13908

YOM:

1943

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

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Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While descending to Zamboanga City Airport, weather conditions deteriorated and the crew was instructed by ATC to divert to Davao City located 400 km east to their actual position. The crew modified his itinerary and while flying over the Moro Gulf, both engines failed. The captain reduced his altitude and ditched the aircraft about 40 km off Cotabato City. All 31 occupants were quickly rescued while the aircraft sank and was lost.

Probable cause:

It was determined that both engines failed due to fuel exhaustion.

Crash of a Douglas C-47B-50-DK near Quito: 18 killed

Date & Time: Jul 11, 1960 at 1145 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

45-1109

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Humanitarian

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Bogotá – Quito

MSN:

17112/34379

YOM:

1945

Location:

Country:

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Crew on board:

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Circumstances:

The USAF C-47 was performing a humanitarian flight from Bogotá to Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport on behalf of the US Mission. While descending to the airport at an altitude of 13,000 feet, the crew encountered low visibility due to clouds when the airplane struck the slope of Mt Pichincha. The wreckage was found few hours later and all 18 occupants have been killed.

Probable cause:

The crew continued the approach under VFR mode in IFR conditions.

Crash of a Douglas C-47-DL off Sharjah: 20 killed

Date & Time: Jul 10, 1960 at 1030 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

VT-DGS

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Lake, Sea, Ocean, River

Schedule:

Bahraïn – Doha – Sharjah

MSN:

4273

YOM:

1941

Location:

Country:

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Pax on board:

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Circumstances:

The Gulf Aviation DC-3 operated on a return flight from Bahrain to Sharjah via Doha. The DC-3 took off from Doha at 05:16 GMT following a 30-minute stopover. The DC-3 was cleared for FL70 and reported to Bahrain ATC at 06:04 that it was in contact with Sharjah, ETA being 06:45. Last radio contact was one minute later when the flight reported to Sharjah. The pilot of a de Havilland Heron plane, approaching Sharjah at FL50 reported hearing the DC-3 crew trying to contact Sharjah three times. These calls were not heard by Sharjah control and the airplane crashed into the sea off Sharjah in unknown circumstances. SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended a week later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 20 occupants was ever found.

Probable cause:

Due to lack of evidences, investigations were unable to determine the exact cause of the accident. It can only be a matter of conjecture as the wreckage was not located. All possible factors were explored, but none appeared plausible. Absence of radio communication between the aircraft and Sharjah after the initial contact and the absence of any distress call might have led to the tentative conclusion that the aircraft had met with a catastrophic disaster while still over the sea. However, the interception of a radio call from the aircraft at about its expected time of arrive at Sharjah and the considerable tailwind on the route seem to indicate the possibility that the aircraft overflew Sharjah under conditions of poor visibility. It is noteworthy that the ETA given by the aircraft as 0642 did not allow for any appreciable tailwind component which was indicated by the evidence of the Heron pilot. Not accounting for this factor could have resulted in the aircraft's descent on its ETA into high ground to the east of Sharjah. It may also explain the inability of Sharjah, to receive any message which may have been transmitted on VHF. However, the NDB at Sharjah was fully operational during the period of the subject flight and should have indicated to the pilot that Sharjah had been overflown unless the ADF system in the aircraft was mishandled or suffered a multiple failure.

Final Report:

Crash of a Douglas C-47 in San José: 1 killed

Date & Time: Jun 25, 1960

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

TI-1023

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

San José - Los Chiles

Location:

San José

San José (Central Valley)

Country:

Costa Rica

Region:

Central America

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

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Circumstances:

Shortly after takeoff from San José-Juan Santamaria Airport, while climbing, the airplane stalled and crashed in a coffee plantation. A passenger was killed while 12 other occupants were injured. The aircraft was destroyed.
Source and photos: http://jotape-tangoindia.blogspot.ch/

Crash of a Douglas C-47B-15-DK near Calabozo: 13 killed

Date & Time: Apr 28, 1960 at 0822 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

YV-C-AFE

Flight Phase:

Landing (descent or approach)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Caracas – Calabozo – San Fernando – Puerto Paez – Puerto Ayacucho

MSN:

15353/26798

YOM:

1944

Location:

Country:

Region:

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Pax on board:

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Circumstances:

While on approach to Calabozo Airport, a Russian citizen went into the cockpit and apparently tried to hijack the airplane. Shortly later, he threw a grenade on the floor. When the explosion occurred, the airplane went out of control and crashed in flames about 15 km from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed and all 13 occupants were killed.

Probable cause:

The aircraft had been properly maintained and there was no evidence of any breakage or structural failure or mechanical failure or defective performance of any component prior to the explosion. The accident was caused by an exploding device.

Crash of a Douglas VC-47D near Marburg

Date & Time: Apr 15, 1960

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

43-49271

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Military

Site:

Plain, Valley

MSN:

15087/26532

YOM:

1944

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

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Circumstances:

Crashed in unknown circumstances 11 km southeast of Marburg while on a flight to Wiesbaden-Erbenheim AFB. The crew fate remains unknown.

Crash of a Douglas C-47A-30-DK at Wiesbaden AFB

Date & Time: Mar 25, 1960

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

43-48100

Flight Type:

Military

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

MSN:

13916/25361

YOM:

1944

Location:

Wiesbaden-Erbenheim AFB

Hesse

Country:

Germany

Region:

Europe

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

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Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

Crashed in unknown circumstances at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim AFB. Crew fate remains unknown.

Crash of a Douglas C-47B-45-DK near Chimbote: 4 killed

Date & Time: Mar 20, 1960

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

OB-PAM-146

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Cargo

Survivors:

Site:

Mountains

Schedule:

Picota – Trujillo

MSN:

16947/34206

YOM:

1945

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

While cruising in poor weather conditions, the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located in the region of Chimbote. The wreckage was found three days later and all four crew members have been killed.

Crash of a Douglas C-47-DL in Nagoya: 5 killed

Date & Time: Mar 16, 1960 at 1940 LT

Type of aircraft:

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Operator:

Registration:

JA5018

Flight Phase:

Takeoff (climb)

Flight Type:

Scheduled Revenue Flight

Survivors:

Yes

Site:

Airport (less than 10 km from airport)

Schedule:

Nagoya – Tokyo

MSN:

6006

YOM:

1942

Location:

Country:

Region:

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Circumstances:

The C-47 just started the takeoff roll when it was struck by a Japanese Air Self Defence Force North American F-86 Sabre. Both aircraft went out of control and crashed. Five people on bord the C-47 were killed while the pilot of the F-86 was unhurt. Both aircraft were destroyed.

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