Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation

Constellation 143197 set out on its flight two days before Christmas with a crew of 23. Commander Guy Howard Jr., executive officer of the squadron was sitting in the copilot seat, to give Commander Frederick Woodward a checkout that would qualify him as a plane commander. For five and a half hours Howard put Woodward through his paces. Then, as the Connie cruised only 1,500 feet above the ocean, Howard called for a new exercise: what would Woodward do if a fire broke out in the forward baggage compartment? Responding correctly, Woodward "cut" (disconnected by pulling circuit breakers) some electrical Circuits. But something went wrong. The plane began falling. "I thought it was a drill" Navigator Richard Rentschler later told LIFE Correspondent James Goode. "The next thing I notice was water out the starboard window." Seconds later the plane hit the water, broke in two and caught fire. As the plane hit, Rentschler was hurled under the navigator’s table and came out surrounded by flames. He pushed Radioman Franklin Henry Jr. through the escape hatch, then jumped free himself Lt Thomas Kline, pinned under the radar console, was freed by another crewman (Robert O. Clark). "I jumped through the fire," says Kline, and swam under water 50 feet to avoid the flames. Commander Howard escaped from the cockpit. Nineteen crew members were killed and four others were rescued.
Source:
http://www.willyvictor.com/History/Accidents/1957/LifeArtcl.htm

The crew was engaged in a training mission consisting of a half-yearly check. After the pilot completed several manoeuvres at Reims Airport, he returned to Paris-Orly to complete four landings. The ILS approach to runway 26L was correct and completed by night with a ceiling at 60 meters and a horizontal visibility of 1,600 meters, under GCA surveillance. Just before touchdown, the airplane banked left and hit the ground 400 meters past the runway threshold. The airplane then crashed on the left side of the runway, lost its left wing and came to rest in flames about 700 meters past the runway threshold. All six crew members were quickly evacuated while the aircraft was destroyed.

The aircraft arrived at Ciudad Trujillo on the morning of 16 August with No, 2 engine inoperative. It was decided to disembark the passengers there and continue the flight to New York via Miami, using only three engines, in order that the defective engine could be changed in New York. The aircraft, therefore, carrying only the crew, took off from General Andrews Airport, Ciudad Trujillo at 1516 hours with No. 2 propeller feathered. About 50 minutes after take-off, No. 4 engine propeller oversped and proved to be impossible to control or feather. It then tore free from the engine, damaging No. 3 engine propeller as it parted; No. 3 propeller was, therefore, feathered. In the meantime, No. 4 engine caught fire, and only No. 1 engine remained operative. As it was not possible to reach Ciudad Trujillo, an attempt was made to land on the road or the beach, but this failed owing to the large number of trees and the narrowness of the beach. Under these circumstances the aircraft was ditched parallel to the coast about 500 metres from it. It was considered that in carrying out the three-engined ferry flight without passengers, the operator acted in accordance with para. 6.2. 2, Part II of the ICAO International Standards and Recommended Practices, Annex 8 to the Convention, "when the State of Registry considers that the damage sustained is of a nature such that the aircraft is no longer airworthy, it shall prohibit the aircraft from resuming flight until it is restored to an airworthy condition; the State of Registry may, however, in exceptional circumstances, prescribe particular limiting conditions to permit the aircraft to fly without fare-paying passengers to an aerodrome at which it can be restored to an airworthy condition". After ditching, the aircraft sank to a depth of about 40 feet. On a second attempt the weather permitted a diving operation to be carried out, and inspection of the wreckage revealed the following in- formation: All six flap sections of the port wing were entirely separated from the aircraft. No. 1 engine propeller tore free at the time of impact, splitting the propeller shaft next to the propeller thrust bearing. No. 2 power plant was wrenched free from its nacelle and remained attached to it only by pipes and control cables. This propeller was feathered. The two inner flap sections of the starboard wing were fractured and partially detached from the aircraft. The No. 3 engine propeller also was feathered and the tip of one of its blades was broken a point 18 inches from the leading edge to 12 inches from the trailing edge. The trailing edge of the same blade also had two deep dents. Marks, apparently made by a propeller blade, were found on the right side of the No. 3 engine cowling, No. 4 engine propeller was missing but only a small part of the nose section of the No. 4 engine was broken. The diaphragm and the pitch reducing mechanism were in their original places. The fuselage was fractured and the crack extended diagonally across the main part from the front towards the right rear wall.

On 16 July at 0332 hours local time (15 July - 1802 hours GMT) the aircraft took off from Mokmer aerodrome on the Island of Biak, on a scheduled transport flight to Manila. It carried nine crew members and fifty-nine passengers. A few minutes after take-off the pilot asked the operator in the control tower to keep the runway lights on. Shortly thereafter he requested permission to make a "low run" over the aerodrome. Both requests were granted, In the meantime, the aircraft had made a turn to the right and a turn to the left and was flying in a westerly direction back towards the aerodrome. During this approach the aircraft lost altitude gradually and at 0336 local time it crashed into the sea one kilometer from the shore. It burst into flames, broke apart and sank immediately. Eleven passengers and one stewardess were rescued.The stewardess and one of the surviving passengers died later in hospital.

The Super Constellation was struck by an Eastern Airlines DC-7 while parked at Miami-Intl Airport. Following an uneventful training flight, the DC-7 landed at Miami-Intl Airport, exit via a taxiway and was taxiing to the maintenance hangar when control was lost. It collided with the Super Constellation and both aircraft caught fire and were destroyed. The exact circumstances and causes of the collision remains unclear. As the aircraft was empty, there were no injuries.

After takeoff from Argentia NAS, while on a barrier flight, the crew informed ATC that the aircraft caught fire, that he lost an engine and must return for an emergency landing. Following a return circuit, the pilot-in-command completed a wheels-up landing. The airplane slid for dozen yards before coming to rest in flames. All 24 occupants were evacuated safely while the aircraft was destroyed.

The Lockheed WV-3 Super Constellation, BuNo 137893, took off from Guam at 06:00 in the morning of September 1956 on a weather recon mission with an 18 man crew. The flight was normal for the first 14 hours or so. On the return leg, when the flight was 200 miles from Guam, when it lost engine #1 due to oil starvation. The engine was shut down and the propeller feathered. The pilot reported his position to Guam central and the radioman sent the position to the VW3 squadron duty office where it was tracked. The flight continued toward Guam at an altitude of 1200 feet. With 100 miles to go #4 engine experienced complete loss of power and was shut down. The propeller was feathered. However, the propeller never went to full feather and windmilled. There was a violent swerve to the right. Shortly after this, engines #2 and #3 started to lose power. At 80 miles from Guam and losing altitude at 500 to 700 feet per minute the captain decided to ditch the aircraft while he still had lateral control and issued the "Prepare to Ditch" command. Navigator Wanbaugh gave an updated position report to the pilot and radioman for the "May-Day" transmissions. A ditching was carried out. All 18 occupants climbed into two life rafts, already deployed, and pushed off at around 22:00. At about 03:20 on September 18th, the life rafts were sighted by a P2V Neptune aircraft flying search and rescue. The occupants were rescued by Coast Guard Cutter Buttonwood.
Source:
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19560917-1

On June 30, 1956, at 0901, Trans World Airlines Flight 2, a regularly scheduled passenger service, took off from runway 25 of the Los Angeles Inter-national Airport. Flight 2 was on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan from Los Angeles, California, to Kansas City, Missouri, via Green Airway 5, Amber Airway 2, Daggett direct Trinidad, direct Dodge City, Victor Airway 10 Kansas City. The flight plan also proposed a cruising altitude of 19,000 feet, a .JPG"> airspeed of 270 knots, and a departure time of 0830. The Trans World flight crew consisted of Captain Jack S. Gandy, Copilot James H. Ritner, Flight Engineer Forrest D. Breyfogle, night Engineer Harry H. Allen (aboard as an additional crew member), and Hostesses Tracine E. Armbruster and Beth E. Davis. Preparations for Flight 2 were routine except that departure was delayed a few minutes by minor maintenance on the aircraft. The flight was dispatched with 3,300 gallons of fuel and the load manifest showed the gross weight of the aircraft at takeoff was 108,115 pounds, well, under the maximum allowable of 113,200 pounds. The load was properly distributed with respect to center of gravity limitations of the aircraft. As requested. the flight, after takeoff, contacted the Los Angeles tower radar departure controller, and was vectored through an overcast which existed in the Los Angeles area. After reporting "on top" (2,400 feet) the flight switched to Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center (referred to as Los Angeles Center) frequency, 118.9 mcs., for its en route clearance. This clearance specified the routing as filed in the flight plan, however, the controller specified that the flight climb to 19,000 feet in VFR conditions. Immediately thereafter TWA 2 asked for a routing change to Daggett via Victor Airway 210. This was approved in a routine manner. At 0921, through company radio communications, Flight 2 reported that it was approaching Daggett and requested a change in flight plan altitude assignment from 19,000 to 21,000 feet. ARTC (Los Angeles Center) advised they were unable to approve the requested altitude because of traffic (United Air Lines Flight 718). Flight 2 requested a clearance of 1,000 feet on top. Ascertaining from the radio operator that the flight was then at least 1,000 on top, ARTC cleared the flight. At 0959 Trans World 2 reported its position through company radio at Las Vegas. It reported that it had passed Lake Mohave at 0955, was 1,000 on top at 21,000 feet, and estimated it would reach the 321-degree radial of the Winslow omni range station (Painted Desert) at 1031 with Farmington next. This was the last radio communication with the flight.

The four engine christened 'Rafael Urdaneta' departed New York-Idlewild Airport at 2306LT and proceeded to the south. One hour and twenty minutes later, while flying along the US coast, the crew contacted ground and received the permission to return to New York following the failure of the number two engine. The crew was unable to feather the propeller and the aircraft suffered severe vibrations. Ten minutes later, while the crew was trying to dump the fuel, a fire erupted. The aircraft went out of control, dove into the sea and crashed about 40 miles southeast of New York. The airplane disintegrated on impact and all 74 occupants were killed.

Following an uneventful flight from Tampa, the captain started a night approach to Toronto-Malton Airport. During an ILS approach in poor weather conditions (300 feet ceiling), the four engine aircraft descended below the glide and hit the ground about 11 miles short of runway 10. It slid for 2,000 feet before coming to rest in flames. All 23 occupants were injured while the aircraft was destroyed.