Mountains

In the early morning, while descending to the RAF Castle Archdale in marginal weather conditions, the seaplane hit the slope of Mt Knocklayd located south of Ballycastle. Nine crew members were killed while three others were injured. At the time of the accident, the mountain was shrouded by clouds and the visibility was poor.
Crew (423rd Squadron):
S/L Thomas, pilot,
F/O Blair, copilot 10.

While flying in poor weather conditions, the aircraft hit a mountain slope in the Peni Mountains. All 12 crew members were killed.
Crew (16th Squadron):
Cpl Christian Jean Becht,
S/Sgt Fred Clanton,
2nd Lt Earl Richard Clement,
2nd Lt Harvey Julian Hanson,
1st Lt John Albert MacDonald,
2nd Lt John Kemp Pheley,
S/Sgt Leonard Lable Rosenburg,
2nd Lt Robert Murray Ryan,
S/Sgt John Louis Scala,
S/Sgt Guy Edward Shoff,
T/Sgt James Theodore Thomas,
T/Sgt Thayer Todd Turman .

The crew was performing a night training mission and departed Alliance AAF in the evening. While cruising in low visibility, the pilot made a turn to the right when the aircraft hit a mountain slope and crashed. The aircraft was demolished and all five occupants were killed. The aircraft was completing a right turn at the time of the accident and was in a bank angle of 60 degrees upon impact.
Crew:
Sgt John N. Darling,
2nd Lt Harold F. Kelly,
2nd Lt Richard P. Murphy,
Sgt Abraham Schneider,
1st Lt Roy S. Stanton.

The crew were on a night cross country navigation exercise from their home base of Jurby, on the northern plain of the Isle of Man. Most routes flown from Jurby were circular tours of the Irish Sea. While flying west, presumably on a clockwise orbit of the Irish Sea, the aircraft flew into to gentle grassy slopes of the Carneddau. At about 12:30 on the 1st December the RAF Mountain Rescue team based at Llandwrog were informed by the station's Flying Control Officer that two of the aircraft's crew had walked down to Bethesda, after having spent the night in the aircraft. The MRT began their search from Bethesda police station, they were then directed to the village store where they found the two aircrew. The two crew were unable to avail the team members of the exact location of the aircraft, having walked down in low visibility. They then began a search of the area to the north and west of Carnedd Llewellyn but found nothing before sunset, when they had to abandon the search and return to base. The second day of the search started at 07:30 with the team searching around Carnedd Dafydd. At 11:00 a third member of the crew was reported as having walked off the mountain to Bethesda. He was able to inform the Police more about where the aircraft, and the now lone fourth crewman was located. The hill parties were recalled and then drove to Tal-y-bont before proceeding up the track to Melynllyn to search the mountains in that area. At about 15:30 one of the search parties came across the wreck in the area between Foel Grach and Garnedd Uchaf and the cliffs of Craig y Dulyn. The fourth crew member was found alive in the aircraft's turret. He was reported to be "suffering from dehydration, starvation and a fractured foot, but his spirits were high". He was recovered by a stretcher party, arriving at the Ambulance after nightfall.
Crew (5th AOS):
Sgt James A. Knight, pilot,
Sgt Roy Gilbert, wireless operator and air gunner,
LAC Reed, navigator,
LAC Thomson, navigator.
Source:
http://www.peakdistrictaircrashes.co.uk/pages/wales/walesef909.htm

The aircraft left Port Moresby-Wards Airport in early morning and completed the initial climb in poor visibility. After few minutes, it hit the slope of a mountain located 13 km west of the airport and was destroyed by impact forces. All 15 occupants were killed. Qantas, the Australian National career, was performing this flight on behalf of the Royal Australian Air Force and all passengers were US and RAAF soldiers and officers. By date, this crash is considered as the worst accident for Qantas since its foundation.
Crew:
S/L William Geoffrey Campbell, pilot,
P/O John Randolph Fleming Henderson, copilot,
F/Sgt Neil Grosvenor Evan, radio operator,
P/O Keith George Shankland Little, purser.
Passengers:
Robert E. Lewis,
Harry H. Poague,
Lt Col C. V. Ferry,
Lt Col Edward John Marston,
Maj J. F. McCarthy,
Lt Col John Benedict Bolger,
2nd Lt John E. Brown,
S/Sgt Vincent W. Novak,
Cpt John W. Baish,
Col Frank O. Dewey,
F/Sgt Leslie Harold Jenke.

En route, a fire erupted in the cockpit and the crew tried to extinguish the fire without success. Intoxicated by smoke, pilots lost control of the aircraft that crashed in flames on the Mt Ushkanyi, some 55 km west of Uelkal. Rescuers arrived on site three days later and all four occupants were killed.

The crew left RAF Riccall on the evening of November 23 for a night training exercise with five other similar aircraft. Shortly after midnight, crew informed ground about severe icing and elected to return when the aircraft went out of control and crashed on a mountain slope locate near Colsterdale. All eight crew members were killed.
Crew (1658th HCU):
Sgt R. E. Bacon, pilot,
F/O H. McCarthy, navigator,
Sgt J. Titterton, flight engineer,
Sgt G. H. Manley, flight engineer,
Sgt B. F. Taylor, wireless operator,
Sgt J. J. MacGilliveray, bomb aimer,
Sgt A. Winton , air gunner,
Sgt D. E. Philips, air gunner.
Source: http://laituk.org/Halifax JB926.htm

En route, the crew encountered low visibility due to misty weather. The aircraft was too low and his the slope of a hill before coming to rest. A crew member (A. F. R. Rooks) was killed while 18 other occupants were slightly injured.

The crew was completing a flight from Fort-Benning-Lawson AFB, Georgia, to Willow Grove NAS, Pennsylvania, where he should take delivery of a glider that must be towed to the Maxton AFB. While approaching Washington DC by night, weather conditions deteriorated and the crew decided to divert to the Barnsville Airport. Due to low visibility, he was unable to localize this airport and followed a holding circuit when the aircraft hit the Mt Locust located less than a mile west of Tamaqua. Two passengers were seriously injured while seven other occupants were killed.
Crew:
1st Lt George A. Blanchard,
Cpt Bernard Cederholm,
2nd Lt George J. Fritsche Jr.,
Pvt Edmund J. Gaydos,
1st Lt Paul A. Gregory Jr.,
T/Sgt Emmett W. Johnson,
Sgt Manuel Lorber.

The aircraft left Port Moresby-7 Mile Airfield at the end of the day on a reconnaissance flight over the Bismarck Sea. A last radio communication was set at 2145LT and as the aircraft failed to return, SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended after few days as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. The wreckage and bones were found by locals on Mt Eiyawaiy, near the village of Engati, in 1982.
Crew (43rd BG):
1st Lt Richard Heuss, pilot,
2nd Lt Robert Miller, copilot,
2nd Lt Robert R. Streckenbach, navigator,
2nd Lt Edward French, bombardier,
T/Sgt Charles Bode, flight engineer,
S/Sgt Ivan O. Kirkpatrick, assistant to flight engineer,
S/Sgt Roy Suribian, radio operator,
S/Sgt William K. Musgrave, assistant to radio operator,
S/Sgt James T. Moran, air gunner,
S/Sgt James B. Moore, air gunner,
S/Sgt Lucian I. Oliver Jr., air gunner.