Meteorological / Weather

Two Tupolev TU-16K of the Soviet Air Force departed Zavitinsk Air Base on a weather reconnaissance mission. Registered CCCP-07034 and CCCP-07514, both military airplanes were carrying a crew of six. While cruising at an altitude of 5,220 meters in good weather conditions, the TU-16 registered CCCP-07514 collided with an Aeroflot Antonov AN-24. Registered CCCP-46653, the AN-24 was completing flight SU811 from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Blagoveshchensk with an intermediate stop in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, carrying 27 passengers and five crew members. It departed Komsomolsk-on-Amur Airport at 1456LT for the second leg of the trip and was cleared to climb to 5'200 meters. Both aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in an uninhabited area located about 70 km east of Zavitinsk. Both aircraft were totally destroyed. All six crew members of the TU-16 were killed as well as 31 occupants on board the AN-24. Three days after the accident, a man aged 20 who was seating in the AN-24 was found slightly injured in the taiga.

The four engine airplane departed Hao Island Airport runway 12 at 0500LT for a weather reports mission of seven hours and 40 minutes. During initial climb, both right engines n°3 & 4 lost power simultaneously. The pilot-in-command was able to complete a low pass over the airport before the airplane went out of control and crashed into the sea few hundred meters offshore. The aircraft was destroyed and all six occupants were killed.
Crew:
Cdt Dugué, pilot,
Lt Frugier, copilot,
Cpt Parage, navigator,
Adj Hecq, refueling operator.
Passengers:
- Adj Langlais, weather specialist,
1st Mst Saucillon, weather specialist.

The airplane was engaged in a weather survey mission over the Baltic sea and was carrying two passengers and a crew of six. While returning to his base at Kaliningrad-Khrabrovo Airport, the crew failed to set the altimeter properly, causing the aircraft to approach the land at an insufficient altitude. In low clouds, the pilot-in-command did not realize his altitude was too low when the airplane struck trees, lost height and crashed in flames 200 meters further onto a school. The airplane was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire as well as the school building. All eight occupants on board the aircraft were killed as well as 27 people on the ground, 23 children and three adults. Two other children were seriously injured.

The aircraft was engaged in a mission consisting of atmospheric research. En route, in unknown circumstances, the airplane went out of control and crashed into a lake located in the region of Houghton, Michigan. SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the three occupants was found.

Upon initial penetration of a storm eye (Hurricane Cleo) , the port wing tip fuel tank and portion of wing were torn away by extreme updraft turbulence. While trying to exit the storm, the starboard tip tank and larger portion of wing were torn away by extreme down draft turbulence. An emergency landing was made at NAS Roosevelt Roads located in Ceiba. All 23 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew departed Stalingrad-Gumrak Airport for a regional meteorological mission. While flying in marginal weather conditions at an altitude of 4,000 meters, the captain decided to climb to 5,200 meters and allowed the rest of the crew to execute non-compliant maneuvers. The aircraft went in stall conditions then entered a dive. The captain elected to regain control but the aircraft crashed in a huge explosion in a snow covered field located in Pervoye Maya, about 85 km northeast of Stalingrad-Gumrak Airport. The aircraft disintegrated in impact and all five crew members were killed.

The crew was engaged in a weather observation mission. After takeoff from Dessau Airport, instead of climbing and flying under IFR, the captain decided to continue under VFR mode below the clouds and in limited visibility. Ten minutes later, while cruising at an altitude of 500 feet, the airplane struck with its right wing the chimney of a metallurgical complexe and crashed in flames. All six crew members and one person on the ground were killed.

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

The crew was engaged in a weather mission for typhoon 'Emma' but failed to return to his base at Yokota AFB. The exact circumstances of the accident remains unknown and all 16 crew members have been killed.

The aircraft left Guantánamo Bay NAS in Cuba on a meteorological mission consisting of investigations of the hurricane 'Janet' that was classified in cat 4 and approaching Jamaica from the south. While penetrating the eye of the hurricane at an altitude of about 700 feet, the airplane went out of control and crashed into the sea, some 480 km southwest of the Jamaican coast. SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended after few days as no trace of the aircraft nor the eleven occupants was found. There were nine crew members and two journalists on board.