1954 — Oct 30/31, USN Lockheed R7V transport plane disappears off Ocean City, MD– 42

— 42 Baugher. US Navy…Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (126257 to 130264) 8-26-2011.
— 42 Gero. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, 61

Narrative Information

Baugher: “128441 c/n 1049B-4108. Disappeared in Atlantic off Ocean City, MD Oct 30, 1954. 42 missing.” (Baugher. US Navy…Marine…BuNos Third Series (126257 to 130264) 8-26-2011.)

Gero:
“Date: 30/31 October 1954 (time unknown)
“Location: North Atlantic Ocean
“Operator: US Navy
“Aircraft type: Lockheed R7V-1 (128441)

“The four-engine transport had taken off from 1 Patuxent River Naval Air Station, in Maryland, US, bound for Kenitra (Port Lyautey), Morocco, with a planned stop in the Azores. Most of the 42 persons aboard were American service personnel, including 21 on and off-duty crew members, although the passengers also included seven civilian dependents, nearly all of them children. Proceeding in darkness and ‘intermittent’ instrument meteoro¬logical conditions, the aircraft was last heard from when at a position of approximately 300 miles (480km) east of Ocean City, Maryland. Within 90 minutes of that radio transmission, sent at 23:30 local time, a possibly sudden and catastrophic event of an unknown nature claimed 128441 and its occupants. A search by aircraft and ships, which began after the transport was reported overdue, went on for four days, but failed to find any survivors, bodies or wreckage.” (Gero 1999, 60-61)

Sources

Baugher, Joseph F. US Navy and US Marine Corps BuNos Third Series (126257 to 130264) Aug 26, 2011 revision. Accessed at: http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/thirdseries14.html

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