Long Beach

Shortly after takeoff from the Bay of Avalon, while climbing, the pilot apparently encountered engine problems. He elected to make an emergency landing but the seaplane was ditched and later sank. All 10 occupants were evacuated safely.

Crashed in unknown circumstances at Long Beach Airport while performing a test flight prior to its delivery to Eastern Airlines. There were no casualties.

The four engine aircraft departed Long Beach Airport at 1908LT bound for McGuire AFB, New Jersey, with 35 passengers and a crew of six on board. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot was cleared to climb to the assigned altitude of 17,000 feet. About five minutes later, while climbing to an altitude of 3,000 feet, the airplane collided with a USN Lockheed P2V-5F Neptune registered 127723. Carrying eight crew members, the Neptune has taken off from Los Alamitos NAS and was completing a local training mission. Following the collision, both aircraft went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in Norwalk. The Liftmaster crashed on several building and a fuel station, killing all 41 occupants and one woman on the ground. The Neptune crashed in a stone-pit located about 2.5 miles north of the C-118 crash site. Six crew members were killed while two others were seriously injured. The accident occurred by night but in good weather conditions with a visibility above 15 miles.

Following an uneventful cargo flight, the crew started the approach to Long Beach under VFR. On final, the airplane went through a patch of fog. In zero visibility, the airplane descended until it struck the ground and crashed few dozen yards short of runway threshold. All four crew members were slightly injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew was performing a cargo flight from San Clemente Island to Long Beach. While approaching Long Beach, the airplane crashed in unknown circumstances into the sea off Long Beach. Both pilots were rescued while the aircraft sank and was lost.

The aircraft departed Norton AFB in San Bernardino at 1930LT on a short flight to Long Beach, carrying three passengers and two pilots. Fifteen minutes after takeoff, while cruising in marginal weather conditions, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain located in the San Gabriel Mountains, north of Ontario. SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. The wreckage was eventually found on June 12, 1952 in an uninhabited area. It was reported that the aircraft was off the intended course at the time of the accident.
Crew:
1st Lt Willard H. Cooke Jr., pilot,
2nd Lt Collin L. Campbell, copilot.
Passengers:
Cpt William Kaitner,
T/Sgt John S. Vallery,
S/Sgt Harry E. Gideon.
Photos: www.aircraftwrecks.com

The crew was performing a flight from Sheppard AFB (Wichita Falls, Texas) to Long Beach with an intermediate stop in Williams AFB, Arizona. While flying over de Chino Hills in clouds, the twin engine aircraft hit the cables of a high-tension power line and crashed on the slope of the San Juan Hill, southwest of Chino. All occupants were killed, apparently five crew members.

The crew departed Reno on a high level training flight bound for Long Beach, California. Enroute, weather conditions worsened and the captain decided to return to Reno. Few minutes later, the aircraft went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in the American River Canyon located in Gold Run. The aircraft was destroyed and all three crew members were killed. There are conflicting versions about the reason of occurrence as one revealed that the loss of control was caused by an explosion in the right wing and the separation of both wings shortly later, and the second version mentioned a fire in the cockpit.

En route to Long Beach, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and was instructed to divert to Albuquerque. Shortly later, strong vertical wind and snow falls forced the crew to reduce his altitude in an attempt to maintain a visual contact with the ground. The aircraft hit the slope of a mountain and crashed 5 miles south of Placitas. SAR arrived on site three days later and five men seriously injured were evacuated while all seven other occupants were killed.

While descending to Palmale, aircraft was too low and hit the slope of Mt Pallet at a height of 7,300 feet and located some 20 miles southeast of Palmdale. All four occupants were killed.