1939 Pan Am Sikorsky S-43 crash

Aviation incident in Brazil transp Queda do Hidroavião Baby Clipper NC 16933 January 2017 Seaplane Baby Clipper NC 16933 Crash Sikorsky S-43 NC-16925 (5996028804).jpg Flying boat fitted with landing wheels parked on solid ground A Sikorsky S-43 Accident 1939 08 13 Engine failure resulting in a loss of control Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 22 53 38.59 S 43 9 51.53 W type:event inline,title Sikorsky S-43B Pan Am NC16933 Pan American Field (present-day Miami International Airport), Miami, Florida, U.S. Santos Dumont Airport, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 12 4 14 2 The Seaplane Baby Clipper NC 16933 crash took place in Rio de Janeiro on August 13, 1939. The aircraft, owned by Pan Am, was flying Miami–Rio, with stops in the cities of Antilla, Port-au-Prince, San Pedro de Macorís, San Juan, Port of Spain, Georgetown, Paramaribo, Cayenne, Belém, São Luís, Fortaleza, Natal, João Pessoa, Recife, Maceió, Aracaju, Salvador, Caravelas and Vitória. This would be the first accident involving a Pan Am aircraft in Brazil.http://acervo.folha.com.br/fdm/1939/08/15/142 Submergiu na Guanabara um hidroavião repleto de passageiros Folha da Manhã 15 August 1939 Ano XV, número 4734 - página 3 1 July 2012http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=0qX8s2k1IRwC&dat=19390815&printsec=frontpage&hl=pt-BR Impressionante desastre de avição na Guanabara Jornal do Brasil 15 August 1939 Ano XLIX, Número 191, páginas 1 e 7 1 July 2012 Aircraft The Sikorsky S-43 was a Flying Boat seaplane. Pan Am would order 10 units, which would be used on routes connecting the United States to the Caribbean and Latin America. The aircraft involved in the accident was manufactured at the Sikorsky Aircraft Industrial Plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It was assigned the serial number "4324".http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_N52.htm Civil Aircraft Register - United States Golden Years of aviation 1 July 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20110920034711/http://www.goldenyears.ukf.net/reg_N52.htm 20 September 2011 dead Construction would be finished on December 20, 1936. After being flight-tested and approved, it would receive tail number NC 16933 from the Civil Aeronautics Authority. These aircraft would be christened Baby Clipper by Pan Am. The Baby Clippers began service at Pan Am on September 10, 1937, and would be retired in 1945.http://www.panamair.org/aircraft/sikorskys43.htm Sikorsky S-43 Baby Clipper Panamair.org 1 July 2012 https://web.archive.org/web/20111019024405/http://panamair.org/aircraft/sikorskys43.htm 19 October 2011 dead Flight history The aircraft involved was a three-year-old Sikorsky S-43B airliner registered NC16933. It had first flown in 1936, and had accumulated a total of 3,650 flight hours during its career.http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19390813-0 Aviation Safety Network The aircraft took off from Miami on a scheduled international passenger flight to Rio de Janeiro, with many stopovers across the Caribbean and South America. As it neared its destination, the aircraft circled Rio in preparation for a normal approach. As it was circling, however, the left engine lost power, putting the aircraft into a descending left yaw turn. As the yaw grew sharper, the pitch angle also steepened until the aircraft struck a caisson and crashed into Guanabara Bay, about 1 km us in from Rio's Santos Dumont Airport. Of the twelve passengers and four crew members, only two passengers survived.http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19390813-0 Aviation Safety Network References External links Accident Report of the Air Safety Board of the Civil Aeronautics Authority, January 9, 1940 (PDF) Category:1939 in Brazil Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1939 Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by engine failure Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Brazil