1952 — Nov 15, USAF C-119 “Flying Boxcar” Anchorage to Kodiak, disappears, AK –all 20

— 20 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, 15 Nov 1952.
— 20 Baugher. 1951 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-7-2011 revision.
— 20 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, 55.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network: Departed Anchorage-Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska for Kodiak Naval Air Station, Alaska. (Aviation Safety Network. United States Air Force, 15 Nov 1952.)

Baugher: “Fairchild C-119C-23-FA Flying Boxcar….2570 (c/n 10528) disappeared near Anchorage, Alaska Nov 15, 1952. 20 missing.” (Baugher. 1951 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-7-2011 revision.)

Gero: “…in a formation of five aircraft on an intra-territorial flight from Elmendorf Air Force Base, near Anchorage, to Kodiak Naval Air Station, the twin-engine transport vanished with 20 American military personnel aboard (15 passengers and five crewmen). The search for 51-2570 was finally abandoned one month later. The C-119 had been cruising at 8,000ft (2,500m) under an instru¬ment flight rules clearance. A radar plot of an aircraft, probably 51-2570, was established on a course parallel to the airway until 12:16 local time, while the targets of the other transports in the group were tracked approximately on course. The error had been detected by air defense surveillance radar, but reports received from the pilot stating that he was on course led to the assumption from the Elmendorf air-traffic controller monitoring the flight that the echo had been that of another aircraft. The loss of 51-2570 was believed to have resulted from precipitation static that caused confu¬sion between two different radio range stations. Subsequent to this and the previous C-119 accident, the US Civil Aeronautics Board agreed to replace the low-frequency facilities extensively used in Alaska with more reliable very-high-frequency omni-directional range (VOR) installations.” (Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, 55.)

Narrative Information

Nov 17: “The Flying Boxcar which vanished in Alaska Saturday was the third plane of its type to go down in nine days. Another C-119 crashed on Silver Throne Mountain in central Alaska Nov. 7 with 19 men aboard.” (Middlesboro Daily News, KY. “80 Killed In Series of Crashes,” Nov 17, 1952.)
Sources

Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. United States Air Force, Fairchild…Flying Boxcar, 15 Nov 1952. 2/19/2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19521115-0

Baugher, Joseph F. 1951 USAF Serial Numbers. Nov 7, 2011 update. Accessed 1-5-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1951.html

Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.
Middlesboro Daily News, KY. “80 Killed In Series of Crashes,” November 17, 1952. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=57051440