Douglas DC-3

En route from Mexico City to Chetumal, the crew informed ATC about engine problems and elected to divert to Puebla-Hermanos Serdán-Huejotzingo Airport. On approach, the crew encountered poor visibility due to foggy conditions when the airplane struck an antenna and crashed onto a house. A crew member was seriously injured while seven other occupants were killed. There were no injuries on ground.

Flight 308 was scheduled between Los Angeles, and San Francisco, with intermediate stops at Oxnard, Santa Maria, and Paso Robles, California. The trip to Oxnard. and Santa Maria was routine. Takeoff from, Santa Maria was made from runway 30 with 17 passengers on board and a crew of three. A few seconds after the first power reduction following takeoff, a loud explosion was heard and fire was seen in the left engine. The left propeller was immediately feathered, the engine was shut off, and appropriate power was applied to the right engine. At the time this happened the aircraft was at an approximate altitude of 550 feet m s.l., or 300 feet above the ground. Shortly after this the fire was observed to be out; however, the airplane began to buffet. This buffeting became so severe that the aircraft lost altitude and the captain was forced to make an emergency landing about 1-1/2 miles north of the airport. The copilot was killed, the captain was seriously injured, and the purser and 17 passengers received injuries of varying degrees.

On touchdown, the right main gear collapsed. The airplane veered off runway and came to rest. There were no casualties but the aircraft was written off.

Following an uneventful flight from San José, the crew landed on soggy runway 02 at San Isidro de El General Airport. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the airplane overran by 20 feet and collided with a house. All three crew members evacuated safely while a baby living in house was killed.

A General Airways DC-3 crashed shortly before midnight near Kerrville, Texas, on February 1, 1959, during a civil air movement (CAM) of 25 military personnel from Boise, Idaho, to Lackland Air Force Base (Kelly AFB), San Antonio, Texas. Three of the 28 occupants, including the captain and the reserve captain, then acting as copilot, were killed, four were seriously injured, and 21 received minor injuries. The final segment of the flight was from Pueblo, Colorado, where the U. S. Weather Bureau Station furnished weather briefing. Icing prevailed and was to continue. An IFR flight plan specifying cruising at 9,000 feet was filed. Departure from Pueblo was at 1800 1 and at 1916 the flight requested an altitude change from 9,000 to 7,000 feet, reporting light icing. ARTC approved at 1945. Shortly thereafter the flight again reported light icing. An involved series of radio contacts ensued as ice accretion became worse, then critical, then incapacitating. A privately used airport at Kerrville, Texas, was staffed and lighted. An attempt to land there failed and the aircraft was crash-landed nearby. Previously alerted fire fighting apparatus and ambulances were sent to the site. Investigation revealed no significant mechanical defect and no unpredicted weather conditions. The Board believes that this accident resulted from the pilot pressing into known and dangerous icing conditions until the aircraft was crash-landed. General Airways, Inc., a CAB certificated supplemental air carrier, surrendered its FAA operating certificate shortly after the accident pending FAA re-evaluation of the carrier's operations. The FAA later restored the certificate.

During a night approach to Bristol-Tr-Cities Airport, the airplane was too low and struck the slope of Mt Holston located 15 miles from runway 27 threshold. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and all ten occupants were killed. The evidence indicates Flight 308 departed Nashville, Tennessee, with an inoperative radio compass. Although the flight was cleared by way of low frequency airway Green 5, it does not appear that the facilities defining this airway were used. Upon arriving in the Tri-Cities area the aircraft was east of its intended track and erroneously identified the reporting point from which an ILS approach procedure was to be initiated. During the instrument approach, which was conducted in snow showers, the flight missed the outer marker. The approach was continued under instrument conditions without utilizing the VOR facility which would have been of assistance in confirming the flight's position. Without having clearly established his position, the pilot flew 15 miles beyond the outer marker and descended to an altitude too low to clear high terrain in this area.

After takeoff from Palma de Mallorca-Son Bonet Airport, while climbing to a height of 1,000 feet, the right engine lost hydraulic pressure. The captain decided to land immediately back onto runway. With its landing gear still retracted, the airplane belly landed less than 100 meters from the runway end. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the airplane overran and came to rest. All 31 occupants were evacuated safely while the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

PI-C626 departed Manila on a non-scheduled flight to Cebu and return with intermediate stops at Marinduque, Iloilo and Bacolod. The flight as far as Bacolod was uneventful. However, shortly after taking-off from Bacolod at 1210LT, and on reaching the height of 5 to 8 ft from the ground, the aircraft banked to the left. The pilot tried to correct the attitude of the aircraft but was unsuccessful. He, therefore decided to crash land the aircraft. There were no fatalities but the pilot and some passengers suffered minor injuries. Fire broke out on impact which destroyed the main front section of the aircraft.

The airplane christened 'Coco de Mono' crashed in unknown circumstances in Hato. The occupant's fate remains unknown. The accident occurred sometime in February 1958 (exact date unknown).

The aircraft was dispatched at Poitiers-Biard Airport for training purposes. The crew (five pilots under supervision, one instructor and two passengers) left the airport at 1245LT for local training mission. While approaching the airfield with one engine voluntarily inoperative, the crew encountered difficulties with the undercarriage that failed to lock down in time. The instructor decided to make a go around when the airplane banked right and crashed on a military building housing ammunition. All eight occupants were injured and evacuated while the aircraft was destroyed. No one on ground was injured.