World

The crew was performing a supply mission to the Arctic expedition 'Sever' located on a drifting ice floe near the North Pole (at N89.1500 W90.0000). On approach, while at a height of 15 meters, the aircraft pitched down and crashed in flames on the ice. All five occupants were able to evacuate the cabin and were slightly injured. The aircraft was quickly destroyed by fire.

During a maritime patrol flight over the Pacific Ocean, the crew was forced to ditch the aircraft about 160 km off Midway Island following a fuel exhaustion. All occupants were rescued by the crew of a USN ship while the airplane sank and was lost. The exact date of the mishap remains unknown (somewhere in 1953).

Crashed in unknown circumstances into the North Atlantic while performing a flight between Iceland and Greenland. No trace of the aircraft nor the five crew members was ever found.

While performing a maritime patrol flight over the Pacific Ocean, the crew informed ground about an engine failure and the captain ditched the airplane 350 km southeast of Miyazaki. A crew member was killed while eight others were rescued.

An engine caught fire in flight. Control was lost and the aircraft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean about 800 km northwest of the British coast. Six crew members were rescued while 17 others were killed. Later, two of the survivors died from their injuries.

En route, while completing a maritime patrol flight over the South China Sea, the crew informed ground that the left engine caught fire and elected to return for an emergency landing. Shortly later, the seaplane crashed into the sea about 150 km west of Laoag, Philippines. Five crew members were rescued by the crew of a USCG Catalina while ten other occupants were killed.

The aircraft was on its way to Habbaniya and departed Tripoli-Idris Airport with few passengers and a crew of six on board. About 90 minutes into the flight, three engines failed simultaneously. The pilot reduced his altitude and ditched the aircraft 224 km off Benghazi. All occupants were quickly rescued while the aircraft sank and was lost.

Transocean Air Lines' Flight 512 departed Guam. M. I., at 0004 on July 12, 1953, for Oakland, California, with planned intermediate stops at Wake Island and Honolulu, T. H. The crew consisted of Captain W. L. Word, First Officer H. A. Hudson, Second Officer L. H. Nowell, Navigator J. R. Hay, Flight Engineer G. C. Haaskamp, Student Flight Engineer P. Yedwabnick, flight Purser H. H. Sargent and Stewardess N. L. Downing. Forty-nine passengers were on board including one infant. The flight to Wake Island was accomplished without incident in five hours and 35 minutes. One passenger boarded the aircraft at Wake Island and since none were discharged at this point, there was a total of 50 passengers on board for the Wake Island-Honolulu segment of the flight. Following a briefing by the U. S. Weather Bureau personnel on the expected en route weather conditions, the crew filed an IFR flight plan. This plan indicated that a rhumb-line course to Honolulu was to be flown at a cruising altitude of 15,000 feet at an air speed of 236 miles per hour. Also that the estimated elapsed time was nine hours and three minutes with 11 hours and 15 minutes of fuel on board. Prior to departure the aircraft was serviced with 2,503 gallons of 100/130 octane gasoline (to a total of 4,069 gallons) and 32 gallons of oil. Takeoff from Wake Island was at 0658, July 12, 1953, with the same crew on board. According to the company's records, the total gross weight of the aircraft at takeoff was 94,397 pounds which was within the allowable gross takeoff weight of 100,000 pounds; the load was properly distributed relative to the approved CG limits. Seven minutes after departure, Flight 512 was cleared from the Wake Island CAA Control Tower frequency. At 0729 the flight made the required 100-mile-east position report and stated that it had reached cruising altitude two minutes earlier. At 0829, one hour and 31 minutes after departing Wake Island, the flight made a scheduled position report as 19 degree 48’ north latitude, 171 degree 48’ east longitude, and cruising at 15,000 feet between cloud layers. This was the last known radio contact with the flight. Since the flight did not report over its next scheduled reporting point, an alert was declared by Wake Island ARTC (Air Route Traffic Control) at 1001. An aircraft flying from Honolulu to Wake Island reported at 1212 that a green flare had been seen. This aircraft's position was 19 degree 23’N and 172 degree 05’E at the time the flare was sighted. The U. S. Coast Guard immediately dispatched several aircraft and a surface vessel to search the area. A Preliminary Accident Notice was filed by Wake Island ARTC at 1643, July 12, 1953.

Crashed in unknown circumstances into the Atlantic Ocean about 200 km northeast of Turks & Caicos Islands while on a flight from San Juan to Plymouth, Massachusetts. All 11 occupants were killed.

While cruising at an altitude of 11,000 feet enroute from Hamilton to Lajes, Azores Islands, the manifold pressure on the right engine dropped from 30 to 17 inches. The captain decided to return to Hamilton (Bermuda) for a safe landing but twenty minutes later, the right engine backfired while the manifold pressure increased to 20 inches. In such conditions, he decided to shot down the engine and feathered its propeller. Less than an hour later, while flying at an altitude of 3,000 feet, the left engine started smoking and lost oil. The crew eventually decided to ditch the aircraft near the weather station 'Echo' located in the Atlantic Ocean, east of the Bermuda archipelago. The aircraft sank and was lost while all ten crew members were rescued and evacuated by the crew of the USCGC Coos Bay.