Lockheed L-749 Constellation

The crew departed Toulouse-Francazal Airbase for a routine flight on behalf of the Escadrille Aérienne de Recherche et de Sauvetage (EARS 99). En route, the four engine aircraft struck the slope of Mt Lapalme located near Périllos, some 26 km north of Perpignan. All 12 occupants were killed.

A Lockheed Constellation, Model L-749A, N 116A, owned by the United States Government and operated by the Federal Aviation Agency, crashed following a local training flight at Topham Field, Canton Island, April 26, 1962, at 1213 local time. All four FAA crew members were fatally injured. One of the two passengers, not an FAA employee, was also fatally injured. The other, an FAA physician, was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The purpose of the flight was to train the copilot in various maneuvers and flight configurations prior to being tested for an Airline Transport Pilot Rating, and to train a flight maintenance technician as a flight engineer.

En route from San Juan to Managua on a cargo flight, the airplane disappeared from radar screens and crashed in unknown circumstances into the Caribbean Sea. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found.

The four engine aircraft was towed by ground personal when it collided with a parked Douglas DC-7C registered N312A and operated by Overseas National Airways. The circumstances of the occurrence remains unclear. There were no injuries but both airplanes were damaged beyond repair.

Pacific Northern Flight 201 failed to maintain its intended track after taking off from Cordova, Alaska, bound for Anchorage, Alaska. Mt. Gilbert is approximately 28 nautical miles to the right of the flight's first intended checkpoint and is 9,646 feet in elevation. At an altitude of 9,000 feet, crashed into the sheer face of Mt. Gilbert, killing all nine passengers and five crew members.

On landing, one of the main landing gear collapsed. The airplane slid for several yards before coming to rest on the runway. There were no injuries among the 45 occupants but the aircraft was later declared as damaged beyond economical repair.

Following an uneventful flight from Munich, the crew started an ILS approach to Vienna-Schwechat runway 30. On final, the captain made a visual circuit when ground contact was apparently lost, causing the airplane to lose height. On short final, the Constellation crash landed in a field 2,2 km short of runway 30 threshold and came to rest. All 34 occupants were rescued and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft took off from Guadalajara Airport on a scheduled flight to Mexico City, carrying 38 passengers and a crew of 7. It did not follow the established climb-out procedure and crashed at approximately 2206 hours local time against La Latilla mountain, approximately 13 km from the radio beacon west of Guadalajara Airport, killing all persons aboard.

The aircraft left Khartoum International Aerodrome at 0555 hours GMT on 10 July carrying a crew of 6 and 14 passengers and was cleared to cruise at 17 500 feet. At 0610 hours, at about 10 500 feet altitude, the number two engine fire warning light for zones 2 and 3 came on and the warning bell rang. The engine was feathered. The CO2 bottle was released and concurrently an explosion followed by a violent fire, made it necessary (at approximately 0620) to land the aircraft with gear up on a large flat cultivated area. There were no injuries to passengers or crew, but the aircraft was almost totally destroyed by fire which continued burning on the ground.

YV-C-AMA, on scheduled flight 253, took off from Idlewild Airport, NY, for Maiquetía, Venezuela, on 26 November with 7 crew and 18 passengers aboard. The flight plan gave an altitude of 17 000 ft, and the duration of the flight was estimated at 9 hours 48 minutes, with Barcelona and Curaçao as alternate airports. The pilot transmitted two position reports, the first, 75 miles northwest of Maiquetía, at 17 500 ft at 0751 hours, and the second, 14 minutes later, 35 miles northwest of Maiquetía at 7 000 ft. No further communication was received from YV-C-AMA after it had been cleared to change to tower frequency. Following the failure to report to the control tower, the aircraft was repeatedly called on all Maiquetía Control Centre frequencies at 0815 hours, with negative results. A state of emergency was declared at 0835 hours, and it was later established that the aircraft struck the western slope of peak El Avila located in the El Avila National Park at an altitude of 6 702 ft, killing all 25 occupants.