1955 Hawaii R6D-1 crash

Aircraft

The R6D-1 involved, Bureau Number 131612, had been manufactured in 1953 and was based at Moffett Field, California. The R6D-1 was the U.S. Navy version of the United States Air Forces C-118 Liftmaster and of the civilian Douglas DC-6B airliner.

Flight history

The R6D-1 was carrying a U.S. Navy crew of nine (led by 35-year-old Lieutenant Commander Harold M. O'Leary) and was loaded to capacity with 57 passengers on a Military Air Transport Service flight from Tokyo, Japan, to Travis Air Force Base, California, via Hickam Air Force Base, Territory of Hawaii. The passengers included 55 servicemen – 17 U.S. Air Force, 22 United States Army, 12 United States Marine Corps, and four U.S. Navy personnel – and two civilians, who were the wife and three-year-old daughter of one of the military passengers. After making its stop at Hickam, the aircraft took off at 6:06 p.m. local time on 21 March 1955 for the final leg of its flight to California. The crew began to experience radio problems, and four hours and 20 minutes after departure they decided to return to Hickam.

The R6D-1 was flying in a heavy rainstorm as it descended to land at Hickam early on 22 March 1955. At 2:03 a.m. local time while on its descent, the aircraft flew into 3098 ft Pali Kea Peak at the southern end of Oahus Waianae Range, 15 mi northwest of Honolulu. Eyewitnesses reported that the pilot turned his landing lights on just before striking the mountain and, presumably seeing the mountain ahead, banked sharply to avoid it. The maneuver was too late, and the R6D-1 struck a sheer cliff about 200 ft below the tip of the peak and exploded.

The accident was the first of two major air disasters involving an R6D-1 in less than 19 months, the second being the disappearance of an R6D-1 over the Atlantic Ocean in October 1956.

Investigation

The post-crash investigation concluded that the R6D-1s crew had made a navigational error which placed the aircraft 8 mi off course. Straying into the Waianae Range in darkness without realizing their error until almost the last second, the crew flew the aircraft into the peak.

References

References

1. "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas R6D-1 (DC-6) 131612 Honolulu, HI".
2. (1955-03-22). "66 Killed as Navy Plane Hits Hawaiian Peak". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
3. [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19550322-0 Aviation Safety Network Aircraft Accident Douglas R6D-1 (DC-6) 131612 Honolulu, HI] and [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rgMUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=t4oDAAAAIBAJ&dq=united%20wyoming&pg=4866%2C427747 Associated Press, "Climbers Fight Cold to Take 66 Bodies From Plane Wreck," ''The Free Lance-Star'', October 7, 1955] each place the death toll in the respective accidents at 66, and the [http://aviation-safety.net/database/ Aviation Safety Network database] lists no air accidents with a higher death toll during 1955.
4. The Associated Press story "66 Killed as Navy Plane Hits Hawaiian Peak," states that it was the worst aviation accident in Hawaii{{'s history at the time it happened, and the [http://aviation-safety.net/database/ Aviation Safety Network database] cites no air accidents with a higher death toll having taken place in Hawaii to date (4 January 2013).
5. Per [http://www.vrc-50.org/historyNATS.htm Chronology of Significant Events in Naval Aviation: "Naval Air Transport" 1941–1999] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-31, and the U.S. Navy{{'s Naval Historical Center (now Naval History and Heritage Command) in [http://www.history.navy.mil/avh-1910/PRELIM.PDF Grossnick, Roy A., ''United States Naval Aviation 1910–1995'', Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, undated] {{webarchive). link. (2012-09-12 {{ISBN). 0-945274-34-3, p. 206, also identifies the crash as the worst heavier-than-air accident in U.S. naval aviation history. In addition, the [http://aviation-safety.net/database/ Aviation Safety Network database] cites no air accidents involving a heavier-than-air U.S. Navy aircraft with a higher death toll to date (4 January 2013).
6. (1955-03-23). "Honolulu, HI Military Plane Crashes Into Mountain, Mar 1955". UP.
7. Pukui, Mary Kawena. (1976-12-01). "Place Names of Hawaii: Revised and Expanded Edition". University of Hawaii Press.