1951 — April 25, Cubana Flight 493 and US Navy Beechcraft collide off Key West, FL– 43

— 43 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Cubana de Aviacion, 25 Apr 1951.
–39 (all) Cubana de Aviacion Flight CU493
— 4 (all) US Navy Beech SNB-1 Kansan
— 43 AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 04251951.
–39 (all). Cubana de Aviacion Flight 493
— 4 (all). US Navy Beechcraft
— 43 CAB Compania Cubana De Aviacion, S.A. and U.S. Navy, Key West, FL, Apr 25, 1951.
— 43 Sturkey. Mid-Air: Accident Reports…Military and Airline Mid-Air Collisions. 2008, p. 53.
— 43 United Press. “43 Killed As Airliner Collides With Navy Plane,” April 25, 1951.

Narrative Information

AirDisaster.com: “All 39 on-board Cubana de Aviacion killed in crash after collision with U.S. Navy Beechcraft, also killing four on the Beechcraft.” (AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 04251951.)

Civil Aeronautics Board, Accident Investigation Report:

“The Accident

“At 1149 EST 1 April 25, 1951, a DC-4 aircraft, Cuban registry CU-T188, operated as Trip No 493 in scheduled service between Miami, Florida, and Havana, Cuba, by Compania Cubana de Aviacion, S A, 2 was involved in an air collision with a Navy SNB aircraft, No 39939, which was engaged in an instrument training flight.

“The collision occurred over the westerly side of the Naval Station at Key West, Florida, at an altitude of approximately 4,000 feet. All 34 passengers and the crew of five aboard the DC-4, and the four persons consisting of an instructor, two students and a radioman aboard the Navy SNB, lost their lives.

“History of the Flight

“Cubana’s Trip No. 493 departed Miami at 1109, April 25, 1951, via the direct Miami-Key West Control Area Extension. The crew of five consisted of Javier Z. Bazan, captain, Jesus F. Pacheco, first officer, Pablo Valencia, purser, Pedro Martenezmoles, steward, and Orland Salas Fernandez, observer. Mr. Fernandez was also Chief Pilot of Cubana….

“At 1114, Miami ARTC [Air Route Traffic Control] forwarded to PAA Flight Watch [Pan American Airways was the U.S. Agent for Cubana at Miami] by interphone, the following message ‘ATC clears Cubana 493 cruise and maintain 4,000.’ This clearance was delivered to the flight by PAA radio at 1119, at which time the flight advised that it was at 2,000 feet, estimating Key West at 1148 and was leaving 2,000 feet climbing to 4,000 feet. This was the last message received from the aircraft.

“On the morning of the same day a twin-engine Beechcraft, Navy designation SNB No. 39939, was scheduled for a simulated instrument training flight from the U.S. Naval Air Station, Key West, Florida, at 1120. The flight, to be conducted under visual flight rules, had no altitude or area assignment other than that necessary to accomplish the training mission. One portion of the mission requires a flight inbound on the east leg of the Key West Radio Range on a heading of 250⁰ M, at an air speed of 140 knots. Upon recognition of the cone, the pilot proceeds outbound on the west let of the range on a heading of 279⁰, reduces speed to 105 knots, lowers the landing gear and descends to an altitude of 1,300 feet. A procedure turn is then made and the prescribed pattern followed for a simulated instrument approach to Boca Chica Airport…

“The aircraft departed the air station ramp with Pilot-Instructor Robert Lowler Stuart, Lt (jg), USN, occupying the left pilot seat, Eugene Samuel Bardsley, Ensign, USNR, occupying the right pilot seat, and Francis Lavelle Ready, Midshipman, USN, and Alfred Leroy Gasser, Aviation Radioman, First-class, occupying undetermined seats in the aircraft’s cabin. The Navy Tower cleared the flight and takeoff was made at 1126….

“At 1149 the Cubana DC-4, on a southerly heading, and the Navy SNB, on a westerly heading, collided at a point over the westerly edge of the U. S. Naval Station at an estimated altitude of 4,000 feet. As a result, the Navy aircraft crashed into the water just west of the Naval Station. The Cubana aircraft, however, continued on for some distance before entering a left bank which became progressively steeper until the aircraft assumed a nose-down attitude. In this position, it crashed into the ocean approximately 1.7 miles southeast of the point of collision….

“Investigation

“Shortly before the collision the Cubana DC-4 was observed by ground witnesses about one mile north of the center line of the direct Miami-Key West Control Area Extension. The altitude was estimated as 4,000 feet, and the heading approximately 223⁰ M. At about the same time and approximately the same altitude, the Navy SNB was observed on the east leg of the Key West Radio Range, approaching the station on a heading of about 250⁰. Witnesses saw the two aircraft collide at a point approximately 1.6 miles west of the Range Station and just north of the on-course signal. The U.S. Naval Station Duty Officer at Key West was informed of the accident at 1150. However, the identity of the aircraft was not known at this time. By 1200, it became apparent to the station that the crash was one of major proportions and steps were immediately initiated to activate all rescue and salvage facilities within the area. Search and salvage operations were begun immediately and shortly thereafter the aircraft involved were identified. The salvage operations continued for seven days involving nearly all of the Key West Naval Station components and local Coast Guard units….

“Analysis

“As no evasive action by either aircraft was observed, it is apparent that the crews either did not see each other or saw each other too late to avoid collision….

“Probable Cause

“The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was failure of crews of both aircraft to maintain sufficient vigilance under VFR conditions to prevent a collision….

“The Chairman of the Board, in a letter to the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics, suggested that appropriate personnel of the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Civil Aeronautics Board review present Air Traffic Control procedures and existing operational practices in this area..” (CAB Compania Cubana De Aviacion, S.A. and U.S. Navy, Key West, FL, Apr 25, 1951.)

Newspaper:

April 25: “KEY WEST, Fla., Apr. 25 — (UP) A Miami-lo-Havana airliner and a naval plane practicing blind flying rammed together over President Truman’s vacation island today, plunging 43 persons to their death in the Atlantic. The Navy said there were no survivors among the 39 passengers and crew aboard the Cubana Airline’s UC-4 and the four flyers on the twin-engine Navy plane.

“Most of the 34 passengers, including 28 North Americans, left Miami for a weekend holiday in
Havana. The two planes ripped into each other. The Navy trainer exploded into bits. The luxury liner of hundreds of horrified sunbathers on Key West’s public beach—and only about two miles from President Truman’s vacation White House at the naval submarine base.

“Capt.” R. S. Quackenbush Jr., commander of the Naval Air Station here and head of the Navy inquiry, said the military plane was “engaged in a routine instrument training flight.” “We don’t know If the crew was flying blind at the time of t h e collision,” Quackenbush said, “but when they do, one of the pilots has clear visual observation at all times. Ironically, we have flight patterns to prevent this sort of thing.”

“Havana officials of the Compania Cubana de Aviacion, a subsidiary of Pan American Airways, said the airliner was flying on its prescribed course, functioning perfectly and on scheduled time over Key West.” (UP “43 Killed As Airliner Collides With Navy Plane,” April 25, 1951.)

Sources

AirDisaster.Com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 04251951. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=04251951&reg=CU-T188&airline=Cubana+de+Aviacion

Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Cubana de Aviacion, 25 Apr 1951. Accessed 2/17/2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19510425-0

Civil Aeronautics Board, Accident Investigation Report. Compania Cubana de Aviacion, S.A. and U.S. Navy, Key West, Florida, April 25, 1951. CAB File No. F-104-55, released 10-22-1951. Accessed 6-25-2023 at: file:///C:/Users/Wayne/Downloads/dot_33414_DS1.pdf

Sturkey, Marion F. Mid-Air: Accident Reports and Voice Transcripts from Military and Airline Mid-Air Collisions. Plum Branch, SC: Heritage Press International, 2008.

United Press. “43 Killed As Airliner Collides With Navy Plane,” April 25, 1951. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=45644743