1956 Atlantic R6D-1 disappearance

Aircraft disappearance 1956 Atlantic R6D-1 disappearance Accident Douglas R6D-1 MATS in flight in the 1950s.jpeg 300 A U.S. Navy R6D-1 Liftmaster, similar to the accident aircraft, operating for the Military Air Transport Service in the 1950s. 1956 10 10 Undetermind Atlantic Ocean, 590 km (368.8 miles) southwest of Land's End, United Kingdom Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster United States Navy, Military Air Transport Service (MATS) BuNo 131588 RAF Lakenheath, England Lajes Field, Azores 50 9 59 0 The 1956 Atlantic R6D-1 disappearance involved a Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster (BuNo 131588) of the United States Navy which disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on 10 October 1956 with the loss of all 59 people on board. Accident The R6D-1 – the U.S. Navy version of the United States Air Force C-118 Liftmaster and the civilian Douglas DC-6B airliner – was carrying a crew of nine and 50 passengers on a scheduled Military Air Transport Service flight from RAF Lakenheath, England, to Lajes Field in the Azores on 10 October 1956Grossnick, 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. 214, claims the date was 11 October 1956. when it disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean about 590 km mi nmi 2 us southwest of Land's End, England, at approximately 22:10.Aviation Safety Network Aircraft Accident Douglas R6D-1 (DC-6) 131588 Land's End, UKhttp://www.vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm Chronology of Significant Events in Naval Aviation: "Naval Air Transport" 1941 -- 1999 2012-12-29 https://web.archive.org/web/20160331224444/http://vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm 2016-03-31 dead All of the passengers were personnel of the U.S. Air Forces 307th Bombardment Wing stationed at Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska, returning to the United States from 90 days of temporary duty in England.US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (130265 to 135773) The disappearance was the second major accident involving a Navy R6D-1 in 19 months, an R6D-1 having crashed in Hawaii in March 1955.November 2025 A 14-day search for the aircraft and survivors found only wheels and a life raft floating 596 km mi nmi 0 us southwest of Lands End. No trace of the crew or passengers was ever found.Claims that no trace of the aircraft were ever found, such as at US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (130265 to 135773), appear to be erroneous; 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. 214, states that wreckage, but no trace of the passengers, was found. See also Aviation England Portugal List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1955–1959) 1951 Atlantic C-124 disappearance 1955 Hawaii R6D-1 crash References Atlantic Ocean Category:Accidents and incidents involving United States Navy and Marine Corps aircraft Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the Atlantic Ocean Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-6 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1956 Category:1956 in England Category:1956 in Portugal Category:Missing aircraft Category:United States Navy in the 20th century Category:Military history of the Atlantic Ocean Category:October 1956