Douglas DC-3

While descending to Touho Airfield in poor weather conditions, the twin engine aircraft crashed onto a hill and was destroyed. All six occupants were killed.

Two minutes after takeoff from Hobart-Cambridge Airport, while in initial climb, the aircraft went out of control, nosed down and crashed in the Derwent estuary, near the Seven Mile Beach. The aircraft was destroyed and no survivor was found among the 25 occupants.

At 0559LT, the aircraft departed Tucson and routine position reports were subsequently received from the flight over Casa Grande, Gila Bend, and Yuma, Arizona. At 0754, the American Airlines radio operator at San Diego transmitted the 0750 weather report for San Diego: Indefinite ceiling 1,200 feet, broken clouds; visibility 8 miles. Receipt of this information was acknowledged by flight 6103 and immediately thereafter the flight reported that it had been over El Centro, California, at 0753 at 3,000 feet. Los angels Airway Traffic Control delivered a clearance for Flight 6103 to American Airlines radio station at San Diego clearing the flight to San Diego to cruise at 8,000 feet and to cross San Diego at an altitude of at least 500 feet above the overcast. The company station, in turn, attempted to relay the Airway Traffic Control clearance to the flight at 0812, however, after several attempts at establishing contact with the flight, Airway Traffic Control was advised that the clearance as not delivered. All further attempts to contact the flight were unsuccessful. Routine search procedures were initiated immediately and at 1305 aircraft of the Naval Air Control Center at San Diego reported sighting the wreckage of the airplane was spotted on the east slope of Thing Mountain, some 10 miles southeast of Pine Valley. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and all 25 occupants were killed.

Crashed on landing while conducting a training flight. Both pilots were uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On the non stop leg from Boise to Denver, while flying by night and poor visibility, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt Elk located southeast of Elk Mountain, south Wyoming. The wreckage was found few hours later in a deep snow and in poor weather conditions, about 340 feet from the summit. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and all 21 occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the aircraft deviated from the prescribed flight path by 4,5 miles and its altitude was 11,000 feet.

About thirty minutes into the flight, a fire erupted in the left engine. The crew was unable to extinguish the fire that spread quickly to the entire engine and nacelle that detached, causing the wing to partially collapse. The aircraft went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in flames in a field located in Cheshire. All 17 occupants were killed.

The approach to runway 18 was completed in marginal weather conditions. On final, the aircraft was well above the glide and with an excessive speed. It landed half way down the runway and after touchdown, was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran, went through a fence and down an embankment before coming to rest with the cockpit crushed on the opposite embankment and partially submerged in a drainage ditch. The aircraft was written off and three crew members, among them both pilots, were killed.

Following an uneventful flight from Philadelphia, the crew started the descent by night to La Guardia Airport in unfavorable weather conditions. A first attempt to land was aborted and during the second one, the aircraft was too high when it passed over the runway threshold. The captain reduced engine power and the initial contact with the runway occurred well down on runway at an airspeed considerably above the stalling speed of the aircraft. The aircraft bounded approximately 20 feet in the air and remained airborne for several hundred feet before again contacting the runway. After another shorter bounce, the aircraft remained on the runway and brakes were applied in an attempt to stop. However, due to the airspeed, which was still relatively high, and the snow and slush which covered the runway, little deceleration was accomplished. The aircraft continued off the end of the runway, demolished a small wooden building which housed the localizer transmitter, and came to rest in the Flushing Bay, approximately 200 feet beyond the field boundary. The aircraft was destroyed, 13 occupants were rescued while a passenger was drowned.

The aircraft left Shanghai at 0720LT bound for Hong Kong. At 0840LT, the radio operator contacted Nanking ground control when communication was cut. The aircraft crashed on several houses in a village located about 20 km northeast of Suichang, in the province of Zhejiang. All 13 occupants, among them staff of the Aviation Inspection Institute, were killed. In the village, few houses were destroyed and seven people were killed while four others were injured.
Crew:
Cpt Frank L. Higgs, pilot,
Tang Ji, copilot,
Weng XiJun, radio operator,
Zhou Yuan, flight engineer,
Zhao KeFei,
Yang Qida.

Flight 42 departed Miami for New York City at 2122LT, September 6, 1945, with routine stops at Jacksonville and Savannah. Having obtained an instrument clearance from Airway Traffic Control to cruise at 5,000 feet to Raleigh, the flight departed Savannah at 0041, September 7, with Washington and Baltimore listed as alternates. At 0150 the flight transmitted a position report to the company station at Washington indicating that it had passed over Florence at 0144 at 5,000 feet. The flight was advised that Raleigh, its next scheduled stop, was reporting a 300 foot overcast. Since the weather at Raleigh was below authorized minimums, Flight 42 requested permission from the company dispatcher to proceed past Raleigh without landing. The station at Washington advised the flight at 0155 that it had been re-cleared to Washington with Baltimore as an alternate, but no acknowledgement of the message was received. At 0205, a radio transmission from Flight 42 was intercepted in which it was indicated that the pilot intended to return to Florence and that he desired clearance to lend at Florence Field. Because of the unusually severe radio interference, the entire message was not readable and no reason was apparent at that time for the pilot's decision to return to Florence. Several subsequent attempts by company, CAA and army stations in the vicinity to contact the flight were unsuccessful. While attempting to return to Florence the aircraft crashed at 0213 in a swampy, wooded area 6 miles ENE of Florence Army Air Filed. The wreckage was located at approximately 1040, September 7.