A Lockheed Constellation L-1049, similar to the aircraft that disappeared
Incident
Date
16 March 1962 (1962-03-16)
Summary
Disappearance, possible in-flight explosion
Site
Unknown Last known position: 13°40′N140°0′E / 13.667°N 140.000°E / 13.667; 140.000
Aircraft
Aircraft type
Lockheed Constellation L-1049H
Operator
Flying Tiger Line
Registration
N6921C
Flight origin
Travis Air Force Base (SUU) California, U.S.
1st stopover
Honolulu (HNL)
2nd stopover
Wake Island Airfield (AWK)
3rd stopover
Guam (UAM)
Last stopover
Clark Air Base (CRK), Philippines
Destination
Saigon (SGN), South Vietnam
Occupants
107
Passengers
96
Crew
11
Fatalities
107 (presumed)
Survivors
0 (presumed)
Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 (FT739/FTL739) was a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation propliner that disappeared on March 16, 1962, over the western Pacific Ocean. The aircraft, which had been chartered by the United States Army, was transporting ninety-six military passengers from Travis Air Force Base in California to Tan Son Nhut International Airport in Saigon, South Vietnam. After refueling at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the Super Constellation disappeared while en route to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. All 107 aboard were declared missing and presumed dead.
The airliner's disappearance prompted one of the largest air and sea searches in the history of the Pacific. Aircraft and surface ships from four branches of the U.S. military searched more than 144,000 square miles (370,000 km2) during the course of eight days. A civilian tanker observed what appeared to be an in-flight explosion believed to be the missing Super Constellation, though no trace of wreckage or debris was ever recovered.
The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) determined that, based on the tanker's observations, Flight 739 probably exploded in-flight, though an exact cause could not be determined without examining the remnants of the aircraft. This was the deadliest single-aircraft aviation accident involving the Super Constellation.
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