ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-47A-20-DK (DC-3) 42-92929 Saipan, Mariana Islands
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Status:
Date:Tuesday 16 October 1945
Type:Silhouette image of generic DC3 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Douglas C-47A-20-DK (DC-3)
Operator:United States Army Air Force - USAAF
Registration: 42-92929
MSN: 12784
First flight: 1944
Engines: 2 Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92
Crew:Fatalities: / Occupants: 6
Passengers:Fatalities: / Occupants: 11
Total:Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 17
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:96 km (60 mls) NW off Saipan, Mariana Islands (   Pacific Ocean)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Military
Departure airport:Iwo Jima Air Base (IWO/RJAW), Japan
Destination airport:?
Narrative:
While the airplane was descending from 9000 feet to 7500 feet, nearing the destination of Saipan, a fire erupted in the accessory section of the left engine.
The main entrance door was released and the passengers and crew started putting on their life vests and parachutes. Wile the occupants were bailing out the fire had become uncontrollable. The engine fell off the wing but the fire continued to burn. Four crew members and eight passengers bailed out before the left wing folded back. The airplane crashed into the sea.
Six occupants were picked up, five of them alive.

Sources:
» Aviation Archaeological Investigation and Research (AAIR)
» MACR


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This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Douglas DC-3

  • ca 13.000 built
  • 2150th loss
  • 663rd fatal accident
  • 116th worst accident (at the time)
  • 441st worst accident (currently)
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 Pacific Ocean
  • 13th worst accident (at the time)
  • 31st worst accident (currently)
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