Calibration

A Federal Aviation Administration Douglas C-47, N7, crashed approximately 2,000 feet short of the approach threshold of runway 06 at LaGuardia Airport, New York. The crew was attempting to fly an Instrument Landing System approach in instrument meteorological conditions at night. The LaGuardia weather reported 3 minutes after the accident was: '200 feet scattered, measured 300 broken, 600 overcast, visibility 1 1/2 mile, light rain, fog, wind 060° at 11 knots, altimeter 29.63 inches, runway 04, visibility variable to 3 miles.

On final approach to Husum Airport, while completing a calibration flight from Westerland, the airplane stalled and crashed in a field located few hundred meters short of runway. All four crew members were killed.

The crew was performing a calibration flight at tachikawa AFB, Tokyo. On touchdown, the undercarriage collapsed and the airplane slid for several yards before coming to rest on the runway. While all five crew members were uninjured, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew was performant the calibration of the ILS system at Pittsburgh-Greater Pittsburgh Airport. While approaching from the northeast, the engine stopped. The airplane lost height, struck trees and crashed in Coraopolis, some 3 miles northeast of the airfield. All three crew members were injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

The crew was engaged in the calibration of the Tehran-Mehrabad International Airport ILS system. While approaching the airport from the northwest, the crew encountered poor visibility due to heavy rain falls. The twin engine aircraft struck the slope of a mountain shrouded in clouds and located near the locality of Khozankala, about 33 km northwest of the airport. The aircraft was destroyed and all four crew members were killed. The wreckage was found near the Amir Kabir Dam.

Operated by the Department of Transport, the aircraft was engaged in a calibration flight at Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu Airport, Quebec. While in initial climb, the left engine failed, followed shortly later by the right engine. The crew attempted a belly landing in a field near the airport. The aircraft came to rest and was written off while all three occupants were uninjured.

The aircraft, a trainer conversion of a B-29 four engine bomber, and its crew were with the 5040th Radar Evaluation Squadron based at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage. On this day, they were on a routine radar-calibration training mission that was to last about 10 hours. Flying south down the Susitna Valley in bad weather, however, they strayed 27 miles off course into the Talkeetna Mountains. At 1822LT, the aircraft crashed into an unnamed glacier at an altitude of 5,600 feet and some 39 miles southeast of Talkeetna, just northeast of the Hatcher Pass. Six crew were killed while four others were injured.
Crew:
Major Robert A. Butler, †
Captain Richard O. Seaman, †
Captain Erwin Stolfich, †
Captain Edward A. Valiant, †
1st Lieutenant William J. Schreffler, †
Airman Basic James R. Roberson, †
Staff Sergeant Calvin K. Campbell,
Staff Sergeant Robert J. McMurray,
Technical Sergeant Manuel Garza,
1st Lieutenant Claire W. Johnson.
Thanks to Adam Elliott for his wonderful website and history: http://adamspictureblog.blogspot.ch/2013/02/bomber-glacier.html

Owned by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the twin engine aircraft was involved in a calibration flight on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority and was carrying two inspectors from the CAA and two crew members. They were performing a calibration of the ILS system at Gatwick Airport when the airplane crashed in unknown circumstances in the city of Petersfield, about 33 miles southwest of Gatwick. All four occupants were killed.

The aircraft was engaged in a flight from Mount Hagen to Madang with stops scheduled in Ogelbeng, Tremearne, Baiyer River, Wabag, Wapenamanda and Yarramunda, carrying two inspectors from the DCA and one pilot who were performing inspections of various local airfields. While flying in a narrow valley, the pilot elected to gain height when the aircraft hit trees and crashed in flames. The airplane was destroyed by a post crash fire and all three occupants were killed.
Crew:
F/O Sydney W. Peebles.

The aircraft departed Denver at 1602 for Grand Junction. The crew, all employees of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, consisted of Fred L. Snavely, pilot; Warren L. Lungstrum, copilot; and Ross C. Brown, observer. Over the route to Grand Junction a check was to be made by these men of the VHF (very high frequency) airway facilities to determine whether they were operating normally. According to the flight plan, the flight was to proceed over Red Airway 6 at an air speed of 150 mph. Though only 2 hours were required for the trip, 8 hours supply of fuel was carried. Information supplied to Copilot Lungstrum at the Denver United States Weather Bureau Office was to the effect that clear weather conditions existed generally over the intended route. Over Fraser, Colorado, located approximately 50 miles west northwest of Denver, however, broken clouds were reported. Since this layer of clouds was only 2,000 feet in depth, with tops at 13,500 feet above sea level, it appeared that a cruising altitude of 14,000 or 15,000 feet would be high enough for the flight. Winds at that altitude were from the northwest at 50 mph. Weather Bureau personnel advised that these winds would result in considerable turbulence. Take-off was accomplished at 1602. Twenty-two minutes later, at 1624, the CAA communication station at Denver received a position report from the flight that it was at an altitude of 14,500 feet, 500 feet over the top of clouds, and 20 miles west of Denver. The flight also reported that they were experiencing severe turbulence. Since the flight plan specified that the trip would be made in accordance with visual flight rules, and since the position report indicated that the aircraft was being flown over the top of clouds, the flight was requested at the termination of their 1624 position to verify whether they were actually proceeding in accordance with visual flight rules. A response in the affirmative was received. About one minute after the 1624 report the CAA communicator at Cheyenne, Wyoming, called NC206 and asked for a check of his station’s radio transmission. NC206 responded, “Read Cheyenne Radio loud and clear.” The communicator then asked for a position report from NC206, and the flight replied, “We are approximately. . . .” The remainder of this message, received shortly after 1625, was garbled and faded. The Cheyenne communicator attempted to contact the flight again but was unable to do so. Since interference to radio transmission could have resulted from the mountain ranges between Cheyenne and the aircraft, and since the Cheyenne communicator had overheard the report of severe turbulence, he presumed that the crew was completely occupied in flying the aircraft, and that either they had not heard the last transmission or were too busy at the time to acknowledge. Accordingly, he placed no significance on the failure of the flight to reply. A request had previously been made by the communication station at Eagle, Colorado, for the flight to check the radio transmission of that station. Since Eagle Radio did not receive any calls from NC206, the station called the flight at 1645. No reply was received. Repeated calls were made by the communicator at Eagle on all available frequencies at three-minute intervals until 1735. Then the station requested information concerning the flight from Grand Junction Radio, but neither Grand Junction Radio nor any other radio station on the route had received a call from NC206 since 1625. At 1825, 23 minutes after the estimated arrival time of NC206 at Grand Junction, an emergency was declared.