1961 — Jan 26, USAF C-118 Liftmaster explosion & crash off Argentia, Newfoundland– 23

— 23 Arizona Republic, Phoenix. “Snow, Wind Slow Lost Plane Search.” 1-28-1941, p. 4.
— 23 Baugher. 1951 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-7-2011 rev.
— 23 Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 80.
— 23 Socrata Open Data. Airplane_Crashes_and_Fatalities_Since_1908

Narrative Information

Baugher: “Douglas C-118A Liftmaster Ex-USN R6D-1s transferred to USAF to increase airlift capacity between USA and Korea as follows 17626 ex BuNo 131567 (c/n 43670). Lost in inflight explosion off Argentia, Azores Jan 26, 1961. 23 killed.” (Baugher. 1951 USAF Serial Numbers. 11-7-2011 rev.)

Gero: “Date: 26 January 1961 (time unknown)
“Location: North Atlantic Ocean
“Operator: US Air Force
“Aircraft type: Douglas C-118A (51-17626)

“Operated by the Military Air Transport Service, the aircraft crashed while en route from the Azores to the air base at Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada, one segment of a transatlantic flight originating at Kenitra (Port Lyautey), Morocco, with an ultimate destination of Norfolk Naval Air Station, in Virginia, US. The crew of another American military aircraft flying in the area reported seeing a mid-air explosion in the pre-dawn darkness, at around 03:30 local time, about 25 miles (40km) north-east of Argentia, but a subsequent search found no trace of the four-engine transport or any of the 23 persons aboard, most of whom were American servicemen, including a crew of 10 Navy personnel. Due to certain classified aspects of this particular operation, no further details were released concerning the loss of 51-17626.” (Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 80.)

Newspaper

Jan 28: “Argentia, Newfoundland (UPI) – Search planes groped through wind-swept, snow-filled skies yesterday looking for a military air transport plane that disappeared with 23 persons off the southern tip of Newfoundland. No trace of the C118 plane had been seen since it last was heard from Thursday. Canadian and United States search planes battled wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour and low visibility to comb an area 400 by 150 miles.

“The search area centered on the storm-tossed North Atlantic about 455 miles off Newfoundland. It was here the plane, a military version of the DC6, last was reported while en route from Port Lyautey, Morocco, to Norfolk, Va.

“Officials of the Argentia Air Base said weather in the search area had hampered the search considerably. A lone RB5 aircraft criss-crossed the search area during the night and planes that went out today were confronted with a 500 foot ceiling and visibility ranging from 2 to 10 miles.

“George Monson, squadron leader of the Royal Canadian Air Force and chief search officer, said he did not know how much longer the search could be continued. He said that planes had covered more than 10,000 square miles since the transport disappeared.

“The U.S. Air Force reported Thursday that a Navy radar picket plane saw an explosion in the air 27 miles northeast of Argentia at 5:14 a.m.” (Arizona Republic, Phoenix. “Snow, Wind Slow Lost Plane Search.” 1-28-1941, p. 4.)

Sources

Arizona Republic, Phoenix. “Snow, Wind Slow Lost Plane Search.” 1-28-1941, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=124023092

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.

Socrata, the Open Data Co. Airplane_Crashes_and_Fatalities_Since_1908(1). Accessed at: http://www.socrata.com/