Flying Tiger Line Flight 923, a Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation registered as N6923C, ditched into the Atlantic Ocean killing 28 out the 76 occupants onboard. The remaining 48 were rescued six hours later.
Flying Tiger Line Flight 923
Flying Tiger Line Flight 923 was a chartered military transport flight that ditched in the North Atlantic Ocean on September 23, 1962. The Lockheed Constellation L-1049H was transporting 68 military personnel of the United States Army from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey to Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany. While flying over the North Atlantic on the Gander-Frankfurt leg, the number 3 engine fire warning sounded, and the engine was shut down. While trying to finish the engine shutdown checklist, the flight engineer accidentally turned off the oil flow to the number 1 engine, leaving the aircraft on only two engines. Approximately an hour later and after the L-1049H started to divert to Shannon, Ireland, the number 2 engine caught on fire and was forced to be at reduced thrust. The aircraft ditched in the North Atlantic Ocean, where 48 occupants survived for six hours on a life raft until the MS Celerina arrived at the scene.
Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation
The Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation is an American aircraft, a member of the Lockheed Constellation aircraft line. The aircraft was colloquially referred to as the Super Connie.
Water landing
In aviation, a water landing is, in the broadest sense, an aircraft landing on a body of water. Seaplanes, such as floatplanes and flying boats, land on water as a normal operation. Ditching is a controlled emergency landing on the water surface in an aircraft not designed for the purpose, and it is a very rare occurrence. Controlled flight into the surface and uncontrolled flight ending in a body of water are generally not considered water landings or ditching, but are considered accidents. Most times, ditching results in aircraft structural failure.
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about 85,133,000 km2 (32,870,000 sq mi). It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for separating the New World of the Americas from the Old World of Afro-Eurasia.