Flight

Few minutes after takeoff, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions. Two other aircraft return to their base while the pilot of N6248B decided to continue. While cruising at low height in fog, the airplane struck a radio antenna (406 feet high) and crashed in an open field. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot, sole on board, was killed.

The airplane was engaged in an acoustic buoy drop mission over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The last radio contact was recorded at 0957LT then contact was lost. SAR operations were conducted but the wreckage was found 12 days later only on the north side of a cliff, about 150 feet below the 4,583-foot ridge line. All nine crew members were killed.
Crew:
Cdr Delbert Austin Olson,
Lt(jg) Philip Paul Stevens,
Lt (jg) Denis Leon Anderson,
Lt (jg) Arthur Charles Buck,
P02 Donald Nellis Thoresen,
P02 Kenneth Harry Widon,
P02 Michael Land Roberts,
P02 Richard Michael Mancini,
P03 Gale Robert Siow.

While cruising at an altitude of 12,000 feet on a flight from Buckley AFB, Denver, and Seattle, the navigator informed ATC about difficulties to maintain the assigned altitude and was cleared to descend to 10,500 feet. Few minutes later, the copilot reported icing conditions to ATC and requested the permission to gain altitude. About 20 minutes later, while cruising at the altitude of 10,000 feet in marginal weather conditions, the four engine airplane struck the slope of Mt Tobin (2,980 meters high). The wreckage was found few hours later about 300 meters below the summit and all 19 occupants have been killed.

While cruising between Munich and Zagreb on a cargo flight, the crew informed ATC about the failure of the left engine and was cleared to divert to Linz-Hörsching Airport for an emergency landing. The captain realized he could not make so he decided to attempt an emergency landing in a prairie. The airplane belly landed in a snow covered field and slid for several yards before coming to rest. All four crew members were uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crashed in unknown circumstances into Memphrémagog Lake. There were no casualties.

The aircraft departed Olyokminsk Airport at 1810LT bound for Lensk. Eighteen minutes later, while cruising at an altitude of 4,500 meters, the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent until it crashed in a near vertical attitude (80°) in a dense wooded area located 92 km west of Olyokminsk. The aircraft partially disintegrated in the air and debris scattered on a large area. There was no fire on board prior to final impact. None of the 45 occupants survived the accident.

While approaching Vologda on a scheduled flight from Ust-Kubinsk, weather conditions deteriorated and the visibility was limited due to snow falls. While cruising at an altitude of 200 meters at a speed of 174 km/h, the airplane collided with another Aeroflot PZL-Mielec AN-2 registered CCCP-96226. En route to Ust-Kubinsk, the airplane was completing a cargo flight with two pilots on board. Following the collision, both aircraft crashed in a swampy area located 23 km north of Vologda and both wreckage were found 220 meters from each other. All 16 occupants in both aircraft were killed.

The aircraft departed Vologda Airport at 1104LT on a cargo flight to Saint-Petersburg, carrying a load of 7 boxes of fish for a total weight of 1,020 kilos. Ten minutes later, while cruising in limited visibility due to snow falls, while at an altitude of 200 meters and at a speed of 173 km/h, the aircraft collided with another Aeroflot PZL-Mielec AN-2 registered CCCP-09667. En route from Ust-Kubinsk to Vologda, the airplane was carrying 12 passengers and a crew of two. Following the collision, both aircraft crashed in a swampy area located 23 km north of Vologda and both wreckage were found 220 meters from each other. All 16 occupants in both aircraft were killed.

While bombing a convoy in northeast Laos, the airplane was shot down by 37mm artillery and crashed. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
Cpt Carlos Rafael Cruz,
Cpt William Joseph Potter,
A1C Paul Leonard Foster.

Shortly after midnight on the 28th a Combat talon C-130E-I, flown by crew S-01, took off from Nha Trang and headed at low-level towards Hanoi on a special operations mission. The aircraft was to make a leaflet drop west of the city followed by a diversionary resupply drop in the Song Da Valley in North Vietnam. Diversionary drops were sometimes made by the Combat Talon aircraft to fool the enemy into thinking that a clandestine team was working in a particular area. The aircraft made a radio transmission about four hours later indicating that the mission was progressing normally. After that message there was no further radio contact and the aircraft was posted as missing on the morning of the 29th. It was presumed that the aircraft had either been shot down by ground fire over North Vietnam or had flown into the ground as it was returning at low-level in the dark. A two-week search along the aircraft's planned route failed to reveal any sightings of wreckage. Investigations at a crash site in mountain in the Lai Châu province of North Vietnam in 1992 and 9913 failed to provide conclusive evidence of human remains. The aircraft had crashed about 51 km northeast of Điện Biên Phủ and the site had already been scavenged by villagers. However a subsequent investigation did discover some scant remains but these are still awaiting positive identification. The wreckage was found just below the summit of a high karst cliff indicating that the aircraft had probably flown into high ground as it was returning from its mission.
Crew:
Cpt Edwin Nelms Osborne,
Cpt Gerald Gordon Van Buren,
Maj Charles Peter Claxton,
Maj Donald Ellis Fisher,
Cpt Frank Claveloux Parker,
Cpt Gordon James Wenaas,
T/Sgt Jack McCrary,
S/Sgt Wayne Alvin Eckley,
S/Sgt Gean Preston Clapper,
A1C Edward Joseph Darcy,
A1C James Randall Williams.
Source: Chris Hobson