Mountains

The twin engine aircraft was performing a flight from Amman to London with intermediate stops at Beirut and Athens, carrying four high ranking officers of the Jordanian Air Force (Arab Legion Air Force) on behalf of the Jordanian Government, and two crew members. While overflying Turkey, the airplane hit the slope of a mountain located in the Taurus Mountain Range, about 30 km southwest of Karaman. As the airplane failed to arrive in Athens, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the airplane nor the six occupants was found. The wreckage was eventually spotted in an isolated area six months later. All six occupants have been killed.

While flying at an altitude of 4,000 feet on a supply mission, the airplane hit trees and crashed in a dense wooded area. The aircraft was destroyed and eight occupants were killed. As the airplane failed to return to its base, SAR operations were conducted and the wreckage was spotted in the afternoon. Rescuers were dropped off about 2,000 yards from the crash site but poor weather conditions hampered attempts to reach the wreckage which was eventually reached after three days only. The survivor walked away and was found alive twelve days later.

Flight 810-9 was a scheduled flight from Vancouver to Toronto. It carried a crew of 3 and 59 passagers. A cruising altitude of 19,000 feet was selected. The aircraft departed Vancouver at 1810 hours Pacific standard time on 9 December 1956 and was cleared by Air Traffic Control to Calgary Airport via Mud Bay, Abbotsford and Cultus Lake (Red 75 and Red 44). The flight made the normal position reports giving altitude and reported icing beginning at 16 000 feet, moderate turbulence 16 000 feet to 18 000 feet, heavy jolts at 19 000 feet and at 1848 requested clearance to 21 000 feet. At 1852, 810 reported a fire in No. 2 engine, that this engine had been shut down and that the aircraft was returning to Vancouver via Cultus and Abbotsford. Shortly afterwards the flight reported difficulty in maintaining height and requested clearance to descend on Green 1. The last altitude reported by Flight 810 was just above 15 000 feet which would be maintained if possible. At 191 0 hours Flight 810 reported passing Hope, the altitude was not given but clearance to descend to 10 000 feet was requested. ATC cleared 810 to cross the Vancouver range at 8 000 feet or above. Flight 810 acknowledged and this was the last radio contact. All through this latter part of the flight the tone of the voice in the radio transmission, as recorded on TCA tape, did not suggest undue concern by the crew of 810. Nothing more was heard of the aircraft until a part was dis- covered by mountaineers on 12 May 1957, when they .were climbing Mt Slesse, at approximately the 7 600-foot level, adjacent to the third highest peak.

The aircraft departed Uelkal bound for Anadyr with seven passengers on board, a crew of five and 580 kg of various goods. While approaching Anadyr by night, the crew did not realized he was off course by eight km when, at an altitude of 720 meters, the airplane struck the slope of Mt Gora Ioanna (920 meters high) located about 35 km northeast of Anadyr. As the aircraft failed to arrive at destination, SAR operations were initiated and the burnt wreckage was found four days later on a 50° slope. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 12 occupants have been killed.

The aircraft departed Santa Cecilia Airport, Bogotá at 0647LT bound for Medellín and Quibdó, carrying a crew of 5 and 11 passengers. Take-off was made at a time when the airport was closed due to poor visibility. While flying on instruments a few moments after take-off, the starboard engine failed. The aircraft continued its flight over the Sabana de Bogotá for approximately 23 minutes, following which, while flying on a magnetic heading of approximately 280 degrees, it crashed violently (at approximately 0705LT) against the Quetame Hill located near Cáqueza, about 30 km southeast of Bogotá, at an elevation of 9,170 feet. The flight engineer and one passenger were injured while 14 other occupants were killed.

While cruising in marginal weather conditions from RAF Sculthorpe to RAF Burtonwood, the single engine aircraft struck a hill located near Glossop and was destroyed upon impact. Both occupants were killed.
Crew:
1st Lt John Rossman Tinklepaugh.
Passenger:
1st Lt Guy B. Waller.

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.

The crew was engaged in a supply mission to RAF troops based in the Cameron Highlands, on behalf of the 48th Squadron. En route, weather conditions deteriorated and the captain cancelled the dropping mission and elected to return to his base. At an altitude of 1,500 feet over mountainous terrain, he initiated a turn to the left when the aircraft stalled and crashed in a dense wooded area. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and all seven occupants have been killed.
Crew:
F/O J. A. N. Selth, pilot,
F/O J. H. Witham, navigator,
Sgt K. L. Benton, air signaler,
Cpl J. E. Wellman, crew commander,
Dvr P. Studd,
Dvr F. J. Merrett,
Dvr E. Roberts.

The aircraft took off from Buenaventura at 1630LT on a return flight to el Guavito aerodrome, Cali. Expected time of arrival at Cali was 1700 hours. On board the aircraft were the pilot, a steward (who held no licence to act as such), a flight engineer (who on this occasion was acting as copilot), and 33 passengers. When 1700 hours passed with no sign of the aircraft's arriving at Cali, a search was initiated. The wreckage was located the same evening on the side of El Rucio mountain. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 36 occupants have been killed.

The aircraft departed Vaernes Airport, Trondheim, at 0830LT on a scheduled flight to Oslo, carrrying a crew of two and ten passengers. The aircraft entered clouds at 2,500 feet right after take-off and did not have visual contact with the ground thereafter. The copilot later stated that between Vaernes and Tolga when the aircraft reached cruising altitude, normal cruise power was set up but the resultant indicated airspeed was 20 knots below normal. The aircraft reported that at 0912 hours it had passed Tolga radio beacon at 8 000 feet (2,438 m), and that it was experiencing light icing. This was the last radio contact with the aircraft. From this point on it appears that the icing increased rapidly and the aircraft started to lose altitude, even though the de-icing system for wing and tail planes was in use. At 0925 hours it was decided to return to Vaernes Airport.The aircraft, when approximately abeam Tolga and to the east, altered its course 25 to 30 degrees northeast. This maneuver, carried out by the captain, was interpreted by the co-pilot to mean that he had decided to divert to Rhos. The controls were taken over by the copilot while the captain continued to try to establish radio contact with the ground on frequency 126,7 mc/s. No signals were picked up. At approximately 0950 hours the aircraft hit Hummelfjell at a height of approximately 1,350 metres. At the time of the crash the aircraft was in heavy fog, with cockpit window covered with ice to an extent which drastically reduced the crew's visibility. The force of the impact was somewhat reduced in that the aircraft touched down in a bowl in the terrain and made two bounces on the snow, which covered the mountain to a depth of 40 cm, before settling down. The captain and one passenger died instantly.