1955 Hawaii R6D-1 crash

Fatal crash due to pilot error 1955 Hawaii R6D-1 Crash Douglas R6D-1 MATS in flight in the 1950s.jpeg 300px A U.S. Navy R6D-1 Liftmaster, similar to the accident aircraft, operating for the Military Air Transportation Service in the 1950s Accident March 22, 1955 Controlled flight into terrain Pali Kea Peak, Waianae Range, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, United States 21.4392 -158.098 inline,title Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster United States Navy for Military Air Transport Service BuNo 131612 Tokyo, Japan Hickam Air Force Base, Territory of Hawaii Travis Air Force Base, California 66 57 9 66 0 The 1955 Hawaii R6D-1 crash was an accident involving a Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster of the United States Navy which crashed into a mountain peak in Hawaii on 22 March 1955, killing all 66 people on board. At the time, it was the worst crash involving any variant of the Douglas DC-6 airlinerASN Aircraft accident Douglas R6D-1 (DC-6) 131612 Honolulu, HI http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19550322-0 2012-12-28 Aviation Safety Network1955-03-22 66 Killed as Navy Plane Hits Hawaiian Peak http://royandsharon.lifegrid.com/COMBS,%20Charles%20J%20Jr.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20131230234945/http://royandsharon.lifegrid.com/COMBS%2C%20Charles%20J%20Jr.htm 2013-12-30 2013-12-29 St. Louis Post-Dispatch Associated Press the second-worst aviation accident in U.S. history, and one of the worst air accidents anywhere in history, and it equaled the 11 August mid-air collision of two United States Air Force C-119G Flying Boxcars over West Germany and the 6 October United Air Lines Flight 409 crash as the deadliest air accident of 1955.Aviation Safety Network Aircraft Accident Douglas R6D-1 (DC-6) 131612 Honolulu, HI and Associated Press, "Climbers Fight Cold to Take 66 Bodies From Plane Wreck," The Free Lance-Star, October 7, 1955 each place the death toll in the respective accidents at 66, and the Aviation Safety Network database lists no air accidents with a higher death toll during 1955. It remains the worst air disaster in the history of HawaiiThe Associated Press story "66 Killed as Navy Plane Hits Hawaiian Peak," states that it was the worst aviation accident in Hawaiis history at the time it happened, and the Aviation Safety Network database cites no air accidents with a higher death toll having taken place in Hawaii to date (4 January 2013). and the deadliest accident involving a heavier-than-air aircraft in the history of United States naval aviation.Per Chronology of Significant Events in Naval Aviation: "Naval Air Transport" 1941–1999 https://web.archive.org/web/20160331224444/http://vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm 2016-03-31, and the U.S. Navys Naval Historical Center (now Naval History and Heritage Command) in Grossnick, Roy A., United States Naval Aviation 1910–1995, Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, undated https://web.archive.org/web/20120912124655/http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/Prelim.pdf 2012-09-12 0-945274-34-3, p. 206, also identifies the crash as the worst heavier-than-air accident in U.S. naval aviation history. In addition, the Aviation Safety Network database cites no air accidents involving a heavier-than-air U.S. Navy aircraft with a higher death toll to date (4 January 2013). Aircraft The R6D-1 involved, Bureau Number 131612, had been manufactured in 1953 and was based at Moffett Field, California. The R6D-1 was the U.S. Navy version of the United States Air Forces C-118 Liftmaster and of the civilian Douglas DC-6B airliner. 1955-03-23 Honolulu, HI Military Plane Crashes Into Mountain, Mar 1955 http://www3.gendisasters.com/hawaii/3402/honolulu-hi-military-plane-crashes-mountain-mar-1955 https://web.archive.org/web/20131230233859/http://www3.gendisasters.com/hawaii/3402/honolulu-hi-military-plane-crashes-mountain-mar-1955 2013-12-30 2013-12-29 UP GenDisasters Flight history The R6D-1 was carrying a U.S. Navy crew of nine (led by 35-year-old Lieutenant Commander Harold M. O'Leary) and was loaded to capacity with 57 passengers on a Military Air Transport Service flight from Tokyo, Japan, to Travis Air Force Base, California, via Hickam Air Force Base, Territory of Hawaii. The passengers included 55 servicemen – 17 U.S. Air Force, 22 United States Army, 12 United States Marine Corps, and four U.S. Navy personnel – and two civilians, who were the wife and three-year-old daughter of one of the military passengers. After making its stop at Hickam, the aircraft took off at 6:06 p.m. local time on 21 March 1955 for the final leg of its flight to California. The crew began to experience radio problems, and four hours and 20 minutes after departure they decided to return to Hickam. The R6D-1 was flying in a heavy rainstorm as it descended to land at Hickam early on 22 March 1955. At 2:03 a.m. local time while on its descent, the aircraft flew into 3098 ft on Pali Kea Peak at the southern end of Oahus Waianae Range, 15 mi northwest of Honolulu. Eyewitnesses reported that the pilot turned his landing lights on just before striking the mountain and, presumably seeing the mountain ahead, banked sharply to avoid it. The maneuver was too late, and the R6D-1 struck a sheer cliff about 200 ft below the tip of the peak and exploded.Pukui Mary Kawena https://books.google.com/books?id=fkw4JooFxZAC&pg=PA177 Place Names of Hawaii: Revised and Expanded Edition Elbert Samuel H. Mookini Esther T. 1976-12-01 University of Hawaii Press 978-0-8248-0524-1 177 The accident was the first of two major air disasters involving an R6D-1 in less than 19 months, the second being the disappearance of an R6D-1 over the Atlantic Ocean in October 1956. Investigation The post-crash investigation concluded that the R6D-1s crew had made a navigational error which placed the aircraft 8 mi off course. Straying into the Waianae Range in darkness without realizing their error until almost the last second, the crew flew the aircraft into the peak. See also Aviation Hawaii List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1955–1959) References Category:Accidents and incidents involving United States Navy and Marine Corps aircraft Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-6 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Hawaii Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1955 Category:Honolulu County, Hawaii Category:1955 in Hawaii Category:United States Navy in the 20th century Category:March 1955 in the United States