1944 — Nov 11, US Air Transport Command C-54 Crashes 50 miles off Oahu, HI      –all 17

—  17  Aviation Safety Network, Accident Description, USAAF C-54, November 11, 1944

—  17  Nebraska State Journal, “Air Crash Kills 17,” November 15, 1944.

—  17  Oakland Tribune, CA. “17 Die as Army Plane Crashes En Route U.S.” 11-15-1944, p. 7.

—  17  Schmitt, Robert C.  Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, p. 76.

Narrative Information

 Aviation Safety Network

“Date:              11 Nov 1944

“Type:             Douglas C-54A-15-DC

“Operator:       ….USAAF

“Registration:  42-72252

“C/n / msn:      10357….

“Crew:             Fatalities:  6 / Occupants:  6

“Passengers:    Fatalities: 11/ Occupants: 11….

“Location:       80 km (50 mls) off Oahu Island, HI….

“Narrative:      Crashed while en route from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland.”

(Aviation Safety Network.  Accident Description. United States Army Air Force Douglas C-54A-15-DC, Nov 11, 1944.)

Schmitt: “November 14, 1944: All 17 persons on an Air Transport Command C-54 flight to the Mainland died when the plane plunged into the ocean 50 miles from Oahu.”[1]  (Schmitt, Robert C.  Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, p. 76.)

Newspapers

Nov 15: “Honolulu (AP).  Seventeen persons were killed in the crash of a four-engined C-54 army transport plane only 50 miles off Oahu enroute from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland…”  (Nebraska State Journal, “Air Crash Kills 17,” November 15, 1944)

Nov 15: “Honolulu, Nov. 15. – (AP) – Seventeen persons were killed in the crash of a four-engined C54 Army transport plane only 50 miles off Oahu en route from Hawaii to the United States mainland, the Army announced today. Date of the crash was not given. They included two Army officers, seven Army enlisted men, two Navy enlisted men and the crew of three officers and three men. It was the first reported loss of a C54 by the Pacific wing of the Army Transport Command. The cause was not known. Some of the Army mail aboard has been recovered.” 

(Oakland Tribune, CA. “17 Die as Army Plane Crashes En Route U.S.” 11-15-1944, p. 7.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944. Accident Description. United States Army Air Force Douglas C-54A-15-DC, Nov 11, 1944 off Oahu HI.  Accessed 12-24-2008 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19441111-0

Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln). “Air Crash Kills 17,” November 15, 1944. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=23946030

Oakland Tribune, CA. “17 Die as Army Plane Crashes En Route U.S.” 11-15-1944, p. 7. Accessed 10-8-2012 at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=33495919

Schmitt, Robert C. Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii. 2-2-2009, 86 pages. Accessed 9-20-2012 at: Catastrophic Mortality in Hawaii – eVols – University of Hawaii. Accessed 3-18-2024 at: https://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/adb83189-0281-4c84-adc0-c86f3d50a20b/content

[1] Cites:  Honolulu Advertiser, Nov. 15, 1944, p. 1.