1944 — July 26, USAAF C-54A, UK to NY, lost, last radio contact SE off Greenland  –all 26

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-30-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  26  Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description, USAAF Douglas C-54, July 26, 1944.

—  26  Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 27.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944, Accident Description:

“The Douglas Skymaster departed the U.K., flying American service personnel back home. Intermediate stops were planned at Keflavík, Iceland and Stephenville, Canada. Last radio contact with the flight was three hours after takeoff from Keflavík, when over the North Atlantic Ocean off Greenland. The aircraft did not arrive at Stephenville and was declared missing. No trace of the plane was ever found.”  (ASN, USAAF Douglas C-54, July 26, 1944)

Gero: “Aircraft type:  Douglas C-54A (42-107470)

“Operated by the Air Transport Command (ATC) and carrying 26 persons, the four-engine aircraft vanished while en-route from Iceland to Stephenville, Newfoundland, one segment of a scheduled transatlantic flight originating in England, with an ultimate destination of Long Island, New York, US.

“A thorough search failed to find any trace of the C-54 or its occupants, and it was concluded that whatever happened to it must have been sudden and without warning.

“The aircraft was last heard from shortly after 03:00 Iceland time, some three hours after its departure, when probably off south-eastern Greenland.

“The weather along the route taken was reported to have consisted of a broken overcast, with cloud tops of 6,000 to 7,000ft (1,800-2,000m).

“The passengers of the aircraft were all American service personnel and except for one, its six crew members were civilian employees of the US airline Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA), working under contract to the Army.” (Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, pp. 27-28.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944. Accident Description. United States Army Air Force Douglas C-54A-5-DO, July 26, 1944.  Accessed 3-30-2024 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19440726-0

Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.