1953 — June 18, USAF Globemaster II Crash (US mil.), Tachikawa AFB, Tokyo, Japan-129

–129 Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Found. Database 1953. “Thursday 18 June 1953.”
–129 Baugher. 1951 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-7-2011 rev.
–129 Boyne. “C-124 and the Tragedy at Tachikawa.” Air Force Magazine, July 2013, p. 70-74.
–129 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 370.
–129 Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 56.
–129 Haine, Edgar A. Disaster in the Air. New York: Cornwall Books, 2000, p. 212.
— 7 Crew
–122 Airmen and army engineers returning to bases in Korea after five days of “R&R.”
–129 NFPA. “Worst No. American Aircraft Fires – 1953.” Quarterly, 47/3, Jan 1954, p. 309.
–129 Pacific Stars and Stripes. “R&R Returnees Die as C-124 Smacks Rice Field,” 6-19-1953.
–129 Planecrashinfo.com. “1953…Mil-USAF…Tachikawa AFB, Tokyo…June 18, 1953…”

Narrative Information

Baugher: “Douglas C-124A-DL Globemaster II….137 crashed Jun 18, 1953, Kodaira, Japan, killing all 129 onboard. Cause blamed on improper use of flaps during engine failure, causing loss of airspeed. This was the deadliest recorded aviation accident up to that time.” (Baugher. 1951 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-7-2011 rev.)

Gero: “Date: 18 June 1953 (c.16:30)
“Location: Near Kodaira, Japan…
“…US Air Force…Douglas C-124A (51-137A)

“The first aviation disaster known to have claimed more than 100 lives occurred near the end of the Korean War during the movement of troops back to duty status following a five-day leave in Japan. Including a crew of seven, all 129 American servicemen aboard were killed when the four-engine transport crashed 25 miles (40km) west of Tokyo and approximately 3½ miles (6km) north¬east of Tachikawa Air Base, from where it had taken off earlier. Originally bound for Kimpo Air Base, near Seoul, South Korea, the aircraft had turned back toward its departure point, the pilot reporting that its No. 1 power plant was shut down and the corresponding propeller feathered. Giving his height as 1,200ft (350m), he then accepted an offer for a ground-controlled approach; later, the tower controller heard over the radio the pilot, in intra-cockpit conversation, excitedly request ‘More power, more power’. The C-124 was on the down¬wind leg of the airfield circuit and proceeding in a due northerly direction when it faded from the radar scope. At the time and location of the accident, the weather consisted of a broken overcast at around 1,000ft (300m), a visibility of 1 mile (1.5km) and a south-easterly wind of 6 knots. There was fog and light rain in the immediate area, with broken clouds down to only 400ft (120m). The power plant failure that indirectly led to the disaster was attributed to a sheared generator shaft, but the subsequent crash was blamed on the crew’s prema¬ture application of full flaps during the three-engine let-down, which apparently resulted in a loss of flying speed. Its undercarriage still retracted, the aircraft plummeted into a field in a nose and left wing-down attitude, on a heading of 140 degrees and with no forward velocity, exploded and burned. The flight had lasted about 5 minutes.” (Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 56.)

NFPA: “….Offsetting [the] 66% reduction in loss of life on this continent was the world’s worst aircraft crash which killed 129 Americans in Kodaira, Japan (near Tokyo) seconds after a C-124 Globemaster took off from the U.S. Air Base at Tachikawa en route to Korea. In a newspaper statement concerning this accident, a Japanese fireman said: “Seven of us rushed to the burning wreckage and pulled out seven dying men, all the others were trapped in the flames and we could do nothing.” (NFPA. “Worst No. American Aircraft Fires – 1953.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 47, No. 3, Jan 1954, pp. 309

Planecrashinfo.com: “Crashed shortly after taking off from Tachikawa Air Base. Engine failure during takeoff. Premature application of full flaps during a three engine approach resulting in loss of air speed and crash. First aviation disaster to claim more than 100 lives.” (Planecrashinfo.com.)

Newspaper

June 19, Pacific Stars and Stripes: “Tokyo, June 19 (Pac. S&S)—When a giant C-124 Globemaster nosed into a freshly fertilized rice paddy yesterday afternoon, snuffing out the lives of 122 men returning from R&R leave and
the crew of seven, the disaster deaths more than doubled the average number of combat deaths suffered weekly in Korea.

“The crash, by far the worst in aviation history, occurred shortly, after the lumbering aircraft left a two-mile long runway at Tachikawa Air Base for the four-hour trip to Korea. The Plane, one of the type which was grounded last week-end for checkups, was carrying a full load of gasoline, approximately 4,000 gallons, when it hit and exploded into flame. One Japanese farmer was injured by flying metal from the aircraft.

“All of the passengers, according to Air Force reports, were Air Force and SCARWAF (special category Army with Air Force) who had just spent a five-day rest and recreation leave in the Tokyo area.

“The plane’s engines failed shortly after takeoff and the pilot tried in vain to right the plane and return to the base. Instead, according to a spokesman, the C-124 nosed into the mucky ground at such an angle as to almost somersault.

“Tachikawa base operations reported the craft zoomed off the runway at 4:31 and made its untimely crash landing just three minutes later scattering bodies and pieces of the plane over a wide area. Because of the soggy ground the wreckage was confined to about 110-yard square area.

“Ambulance crews described the wreckage as ‘the worst you could imagine.’ Many bodies were burned beyond recognition and twisted along with the entangled metal of the plane.

“Oxygen containers within the craft were credited with causing the blaze which quickly fed on the ample supply of gasoline. A press report said that the blaze reached an intensity of 3,570 degrees Fahrenheit, over 100 times the boiling point of water.” (Pacific Stars and Stripes.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. Database 1953. “Thursday 18 June 1953.” Accessed 7-4-2020 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19530618-0

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

Boyne, Walter J. “C-124 and the Tragedy at Tachikawa.” Air Force Magazine, July 2013, p. 70-74. Accessed 7-4-2020 at: https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/2013/July%202013/0713c124.pdf

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

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

Haine, Edgar A. Disaster in the Air. New York: Cornwall Books, 2000, 394 pages.

National Fire Protection Association. “Worst No. American Aircraft Fires – 1953.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 47, No. 3, Jan 1954, pp. 309-312.

Pacific Stars and Stripes, Tokyo, Japan. “R&R Returnees Die as C-124 Smacks Rice Field.” 19Jun1953, p. 5. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=133144302

Planecrashinfo.com. “1953…Accident Details…Mil-USAF…Guam…Dec 17, 1953…” Accessed at: http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1953/1953-60.htm