1948 — Dec 28, Airborne Transport charter crash (elec. sys.), San Juan PR to Miami, off FL–32

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Sep 19, 2023 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—  32  ASN. Accident description. Airborne Transport Douglas DC-3DST-144…28 Dec 1948.

—  32  CAB. AIR. Airborne Transport, Inc. – Miami, Florida, December. 28, 1948.  7-15-1949.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1948:

“….Registration:  NC16002….Crew:  Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3.  Passengers: Fatalities 29 / Occupants: 29…Location: off Florida, USA (Gulf of Mexico)….Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger…

“Narrative: The DC-3 departed San Juan for Miami with some known problems in the electrical system and nearly discharged batteries. Takeoff clearance was given provided that the crew contacted San Juan Tower after take-off to file an IFR flight plan. This was not done. The aircraft continued to Miami however at 8500 feet cruising altitude. Last radio contact was with New Orleans at 04:13 when the pilot reported 50 miles South of Miami. Nothing more was heard from the flight. It is thought that the aircraft had already passed Florida at the Keys and was flying west over the Gulf of Mexico until fuel became exhausted. Radio contact was probably no longer possible due to electrical problems and exhausted batteries….” (Aviation Safety Network.  Accident description. Airborne Transport Douglas DC-3DST-144… 28 Dec 1948.)

Baugher: “Douglas C-49E….commandeered by USAAF.  56103 DST-144 c/n 1496 ex American Airlines NC16002.  To DSC May 29, 1942.  To civil registry as NC16002 (American Airlines *02 Tennessee* Jun 10, 1944 – C F Knight/Interamerican Aug 23, 1947 for lease to Airborne Transport Inc. Lost in flight between San Juan, PR, and Miami, FL. Dec 28, 1948.”  (Baugher.  1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-50027 to 42-57212). 11-7-2011 rev.)

Civil Aeronautics Board Accident Investigation Report (File No. 1-0118, 7-15-1949):  

“The Accident

“On December 28, 1948, a Douglas DC – 3, NC-16002, owned by Karl Knight of Miami, Florida, and leased to Airborne Transport, Inc., an irregular air carrier disappeared while en route from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami, Florida.

“History of the Flight 

“At 2203, 1 December 27, 1948, NC-16002 departed from Isla Grande Airport, San Juan, Puerto Rico, for Miami, Florida. According to the company passenger manifest filed with the Customs Department al San Juan, there were 29 passengers aboard. The crew consisted of Captain Robert E. Linquist, Copilot E. E. Hill, and Stewardess Mary Burke.

“Captain Linquist had filed an instrument flight plan with the CAA Air Route Traffic Control Center and the Puerto Rican Transportation Authority; however, this flight plan was cancelled after a delay due to battery difficulties on the airplane. Subsequently the pilot was authorized a VFR takeoff with the understanding that the flight was to remain in the vicinity of San Juan, and attempt to establish radio contact with the tower.  Once contact was established, an IFR flight plan would be filed enabling the aircraft to proceed to Miami. If this was impossible, the aircraft was to return to San Juan.

“Eleven minutes after takeoff the flight called the airport control tower.  The control tower did not receive the call but it was intercepted by CM Communications at San Juan, to which the flight reported that it was proceeding to Miami, Florida, according to an IFR plan.  CAA Communications at San Juan was unable to contact the flight again, although numerous attempts were made.  At 2323, the Overseas Foreign Air Route Traffic Control Center at Miami, Florida, received a radio communication from NC-16002 stating it was flying at 8.500 feet in accordance with instrument flight rules and that it estimated its time of arrival over South Caicos at 0033, and Miami at 0405, December 28, 1948.  The New Orleans Overseas Foreign Air Route Traffic Control Center intercepted a position report from NC-16002 at 0413, which stated it was 50 miles south of Miami.  This was the last known contact with the aircraft.  Unsuccessful attempts were made to contact the flight by CAA Communications from San Juan, Miami, and New Orleans.

“The Civil Aeronautics Board at Miami, Florida, was notified by CAA Communications on December 28, 1948, at 0830, that NC-l6002 was considerably overdue on a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami. Florida. When it was definitely determined that the aircraft was missing, the United States Coast Guard was alerted and an extensive search was immediately started.

“Among those participating in the search were the U. S. Coast Guard, the U. S. Navy, the Fifth Rescue Squadron of the U. S. Air Forces and numerous civil aircraft.  Also actively engaged in the search were agencies of the Government of Nassau, the Dominican Republic and the Cuban Government. The search covered an area from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Cape San Blas in Florida, the peninsula of Florida and the southern coastal area of the United States to Cape Romain, which is located approximately 45 miles north of Charleston, South Carolina.  The Gulf of Mexico adjacent to the coast of Florida, the island of Cuba, the north coast of Hispaniola and the Bahama Islands were also searched.  Over 1,300 plane hours were flown during the six days of search, from December 28, 1948, to January 3, 1940 in conjunction with the air search, a detachment from the Fifth Rescue Squadron, U. S. Air Forces, conducted a thorough investigation and ground search of portions of the north coast of Cuba.  The terrain was both mountainous and jungle, making the search difficult.

“Investigation

“….The aircraft was inspected by a CAA Designated Aircraft Maintenance Inspector, and found to be airworthy on December 23, 1948….

“Further investigation revealed that the company’s maintenance records were incomplete. Its Superintendent of Maintenance stated that, at a recent date, new batteries were installed in NC-16002, but no record of this installation was found. Also a San Juan repair agency reported that during October 1948, repair work was performed on a malfunctioning engine of NC-16002. However, evidence that this work was accomplished was not found.

“On December 27, 1948, at approximately 1940, NC-16002 landed at San Juan, Puerto Rico, after difficulty with the landing gear.  Captain Linquist reportedly said that when the landing gear was not locked. A repair agency on the airport was contacted by the Captain and asked to examine the aircrafts batteries. They were found to be discharged with the water level low. Advised that it would take several hours to recharge the batteries to their proper operating capacity, the Captain asked the mechanic to add water and return them to the aircraft without charging. The landing gear warning light system was reported as malfunctioning out was not repaired.

“At 2030, the crew of NC-16002 filed an IFR flight plan from San Juan to Miami, Florida, with the Flight Information Clerk at the airport and the Captain stated the aircraft was in good working order. However, one hour later the Flight Information Clerk was advised by the flight that the aircraft was having battery trouble and would be delayed. Due to this delay, the flight plan became invalid. Investigation disclosed that at approximately 2245, NC-16002 taxied to the end of Runway 27 and that the tower was unable to contact it by radio. The Chief of Aviation of the Puerto Rican Transportation Authority was informed of this difficulty. He immediately proceeded to the aircraft where he was advised by the crew that the aircraft’s radio receiver was functioning properly but that due to weak batteries the transmitter was not. After conferring with the crew and then with the tower by means of the emergency car radio, the Chief of Aviation authorized the flight to make a VFR takeoff. It was agreed that the flight would remain in the vicinity of San Juan until sufficient power was produced by the generators to transmit. If this was accomplished, a new IFR plan was to have been filed and the flight could proceed to Miami. The flight departed at approximately 2303 and eleven minutes later advised CAA Communications at San Juan it was unable to contact the tower and was proceeding to Miami on an IFR plan. Messages were intercepted from the flight while en route, but further attempts to contact the flight relative to the flight plan and to ascertain its position were unsuccessful.

“Examination of the weight and balance records of the flight indicated that the aircraft departed from San Juan with 650 gallons of fuel aboard. From contradictory weight and balance and passenger manifests prepared at San Juan, it appears that the aircraft was 118 pounds overweight at the time of departure….

“Analysis

“No examination of the wreckage was possible, as the aircraft is still missing. From the foregoing investigation it appears that the aircraft in an airworthy condition at the time of departure from Miami, Florida, on December 27, 1948. However, on landing at San Juan approximately seven hours later, difficulty was experienced with the landing gear warning lights. Though the aircraft batteries were found in a discharged condition they were returned to the aircraft without being recharged. No further examination of one aircraft’s electrical system, landing gear, or its warning lights was made. Under normal operation,. the batteries should have been charged to operating capacity after the seven-hour flight to San Juan. At the time of departure from San Juan the aircraft’s transmitter was not functioning due to discharged batteries. There was no report of any malfunctioning of any part of the aircraft other than the electrical system, either on the flight to San Juan or while there.

“The flight was cleared VFR orally by the Chief f Aviation with the understanding that it remain in the vicinity of San Juan until able to contact the tower, at which time an IFR flight plan to Miami, when filed, would be approved. The basis of this agreement was the belief that the aircraft’s generators would shortly produce sufficient current capacity to allow transmission. However, the aircraft, took off, and without further contact with the tower, continued on course. Although the original IFR flight plan had been cancelled due to delay in departure it is believed that the pilot thought that it either was, or could be, reinstated. This is substantiated by the fact that eleven minutes after takeoff, CAA Communications in San Juan received a message from the flight which advised that it was unable to contact the tower and was proceeding on the IFR flight plan to Miami.

“Testimony indicated that the aircraft was properly equipped with flotation gear, and navigational equipment. It is known that the aircraft’s transmitter was operating at 0413, December 28, 1948, when the New Orleans Overseas Foreign Airways Communications Station intercepted a position report which stated the flight was 50 miles south of Miami. It is possible, however, that some failure of the electrical system occurred subsequent to this transmission, making the aircraft’s radio and automatic compass inoperative. It is also possible that the pilot may have been in error as to his reported position. Since the aircraft had fuel for 7 1/2 hours of flight, and since the last message was intercepted approximately six hours and 10 minutes after takeoff, an error in location would be critical.

“A review of the weather along the route and at the time of the flight indicated a change in wind director from northwest to northeast as the flight neared Miami with no change in wind velocity from what was forecast. Without crew knowledge of this change, the aircraft could have drifted to the left of the course some 40-50 miles. This information was broadcast from Miami at 0015, out it is not known whether the flight received it….

“Findings

“On the basis of all available evidence the Board finds that: 

• The carrier, aircraft, and the crew were certificated, however, as the time of take-off, the aircraft did not meet the requirements of the operating certificate.
• The aircraft’s batteries, when examined at San Juan, were found in a discharged condition and returned to the aircraft without being recharged.
• The aircraft’s electrical system, including the transmitter, was malfunctioning at the time of departure from San Juan….

“Probable Cause 

“The Board lacks sufficient information in this case to determine the probable cause.”

(CAB. AIR. Airborne Transport, Inc. – Miami, Florida, December. 28, 1948. 7-15-1949.)

Narrative Information

Dec 28: “Miami, Fla., Dec. 28 (UP) – A chartered passenger plane carrying a crew of three and 25 passengers is missing and presumed down at sea somewhere between San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Miami, the Coast Guard reported today.

“The plane, a DC-3 operated by the Airborne Transport company of New York City, took off from San Juan at 10:03 p. m. yesterday for Miami, where it was due at 4:03 a, m. today.

Signal Picked Up

“A garbled distress signal was picked up by the Civil Aeronautics authority radio station at New

Orleans, La., at about 4:15 a. m., indicating a position somewhere south of Miami.

“Coast Guard officers said nearly 20 Coast Guard, Navy and air sea rescue planes from fields in

Florida and Cuba were searching a wide area of the Atlantic and Caribbean.

“The distress signal was not a “positive contact,” the Coast Guard reported, but the search was concentrated in an area about 50 miles south of Miami.”  (Lubbock Evening Journal, TX.  “Plane Carrying 28 Is Missing.” 12-28-1948, p. 1.)

Dec 29: “Miami (UP) – A swarm of military and civilian aircraft took off at dawn today to begin the second day of searching for a chartered passenger plane missing over the Caribbean with 30 persons aboard.

“Three American crew members and 27 Puerto Rican men, women and children were known to be aboard the plane which vanished early Tuesday on a flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to New York.

“Coast guard officers directing the hunt added a blimp from Boca Chica naval air station to the searching aircraft and widened the search area to include the northern coast of Cuba.

“The plane’s pilot, Robert Linquist of Ft. Myers, Fla. Sent his one distress message at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, six hours after he took off from San Juan.  He said then that he believed his position was about 50 miles south of Miami.  But a search from dawn to the last minute of daylight by 43 military planes and low-flying civilian craft failed to turn up a trace of the missing plane…..

“Besides Linquist, crew members aboard the chartered DC-3 were co-pilot Ernie Hill of Miami and stewardess Mary Burke of Jersey City.

“All passengers aboard the plane…were believed to be Puerto Ricans returning to New York after a Christmas visit to their homeland.

“If the plane went down at sea, chances for survival of those aboard was good, the coast guard said, since the plane carried three 10-man life rafts and life preservers for all hands.

“The plane’s lone feeble SOS picked up by a New Orleans civil aeronautics authority radio operator, set of an immediate 12-hour search over an area 1000 miles in diameter.” (Chester Times, PA. “Intensive Hunt Underway for Missing Plane.” 12-29-1948, p. 1.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1948. Accident description. Airborne Transport Douglas DC-3DST-144… 28 Dec 1948. Accessed 12-15-2011 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19481228-0

Civil Aeronautics Board. Accident Investigation Report. Airborne Transport, Inc. – Miami, Florida, December, 28, 1948 (File No. 1-0118). Washington, DC:  CAB, 7-15-1949. Accessed 9-19-2023 at: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/33355

Chester Times, PA. “Intensive Hunt Underway for Missing Plane.” 12-29-1948, p. 1. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=96562089

Lubbock Evening Journal, TX. “Plane Carrying 28 Is Missing.” 12-28-1948, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=107666548

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