Flying Tigers Line Flight 739
Encyclopedia
Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 was a Super Constellation
propliner
chartered by the United States
military that disappeared on 15 March 1962 over the Western Pacific Ocean
. The aircraft was transporting 93 Army
men and 3 South Vietnam
ese from Travis Air Force Base
, California to Saigon
, Vietnam. After refueling at Andersen Air Force Base
, Guam
, the Super Constellation was en route to Clark Air Base
in the Philippines
when it disappeared. 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 US military searched more than 200000 square miles (517,997.6 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 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.
H Super Constellation with a total of 17,224 airframe hours. It carried 11 American civilian crew members and 96 military passengers. The flight was operated by the Flying Tiger Line
as Military Air Transport Service
(MATS) Charter flight 739.
The Super Constellation carried 93 jungle-trained Army Rangers en route to South Vietnam. Their orders were to relieve soldiers in Saigon who had been training Vietnamese troops to fight Viet Cong guerrillas. Also on board were three members of the Vietnamese military.(if links above fail to load report, visit http://dotlibrary.specialcollection.net and select "Historical Aircraft Accident Reports (1934-1965)", then retry report links) The flight crew consisted of eleven civilians based out of California, including four women. The pilot was Captain Gregory P. Thomas.
The flight originated from Travis Air Force Base, California, and was destined for Saigon. There were four planned refueling stops: Honolulu, Hawaii
; Wake Island
; Guam; and Clark Air Base, Philippines. The flight arrived at Guam at 11:14 GMT after being delayed for minor maintenance on engines numbers 1 and 3 at Honolulu, and later at Wake Island. The aircraft departed from Guam at 12:57 GMT with an estimated time of arrival at the Philippines at 19:16 GMT. The Super Constellation carried nine hours of fuel for the 1600 miles (2,574.9 km), 8-hour flight.
Eighty minutes after departure, at 14:22 GMT, the pilot radioed a routine message and gave his position as being 280 miles west of Guam at coordinates (13°40′N 140°0′E). The aircraft was expected to reach 14°00′N 135°0′E at 15:30. At that time, the Guam IFSS experienced temporary communication difficulties with heavy radio static. At 15:39 the Guam radio operator attempted to contact the flight for a position report but was unable to establish contact. The aircraft was not seen or heard from again.
The first day of searching continued overnight. During the first two days of the search, vessels crisscrossed 75000 square miles (194,249.1 km²) of ocean. Secretary of the Army Elvis Stahr told newspapers that "[w]e have not given up hope that it will be found and that those aboard are safe," and that a "maximum effort" was being made. After four days of searching, Major General
Theodore R. Milton
of the 13th Air Force
told newspapers that the chance of finding survivors was doubtful, every effort would be made "as long as there is any hope at all."
Search efforts included aircraft from Guam, Clark Field, the US 7th Fleet, and the Air Force at Okinawa
. Additionally surface ships and aircraft from numerous U.S. base in the western Pacific contributed to the search efforts.
After eight days, the search was called off. The search, which was, at the time, one of the largest to ever take place in the Pacific, had covered more than 200000 square miles (517,997.6 km²) of ocean.
Flying Tiger Lines released a statement outlining some possible reasons for the two occurrences, including sabotage of either or both aircraft, and kidnapping of Flight 739 and its passengers. The airline also said that these were merely "wild guesses" and that there was no evidence to support either theory.
n tanker, the SS T L Linzen, reported seeing a bright light in the sky near the aircraft's expected position about 90 minutes after the last radio contact. US military officials described it as being a “bright light strong enough to light” a ship’s decks. The Spokane Daily Chronicle reported that the tanker observed a flash of light approximately 500 miles (804.7 km) west of Guam, followed immediately by two falling red lights falling to the ocean at different speeds.
A Civil Aeronautics Board investigation determined that witnesses aboard the tanker also observed what appeared to be vapor trails, and numerous crewmembers observed the two fireballs fall into the ocean. The tanker proceeded to the location where the fireballs had been observed to impact the ocean but was unable to find any trace of the falling objects during their six-hour search. A spokesman at the rescue effort headquarters in Guam said that as time passed with no sign of the aircraft, "more credence is given to the possibility that the tanker may have seen the missing aircraft explode in flight.”
Officials with the Flying Tiger Line said that if the investigation reveals that an explosion occurred on board the aircraft, it would support their earlier theories of sabotage. The executive vice president of operation told the Associated Press that experts consider it impossible for explosions to occur on the Super-Constellation in the course of normal operation. Additionally he claimed that there is nothing powerful enough aboard the aircraft to completely blow apart the vessel, and that "something violent must have happened."
The Civil Aeronautics Board determined that, given the observations of the tanker crew, the flight most likely exploded in midair. As no part of the wreckage was ever found, the CAB was unable to make a determination as to a determination of cause. The accident report concluded:
Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...
propliner
Propliner
A propliner is a large, propeller-driven airliner. Typically, the term is used for piston-powered airliners that flew before the beginning of the jet age, not for modern turbine-powered propeller airliners...
chartered by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
military that disappeared on 15 March 1962 over the Western Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
. The aircraft was transporting 93 Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
men and 3 South Vietnam
South Vietnam
South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...
ese from Travis Air Force Base
Travis Air Force Base
Travis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force air base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command , located three miles east of the central business district of Fairfield, in Solano County, California, United States. The base is named for Brigadier General Robert F...
, California to Saigon
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
, Vietnam. After refueling at Andersen Air Force Base
Andersen Air Force Base
Andersen Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Yigo in the United States territory of Guam....
, Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
, the Super Constellation was en route to Clark Air Base
Clark Air Base
Clark Air Base is a former United States Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located 3 miles west of Angeles City, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was an American military facility from 1903 to 1991...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
when it disappeared. 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 US military searched more than 200000 square miles (517,997.6 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 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.
Flight
The aircraft was a 5-year-old Lockheed L-1049Lockheed Constellation
The Lockheed Constellation was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in numerous models, all distinguished by a...
H Super Constellation with a total of 17,224 airframe hours. It carried 11 American civilian crew members and 96 military passengers. The flight was operated by the Flying Tiger Line
Flying Tiger Line
Flying Tiger Line, also known as Flying Tigers, was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States and a major military charter operator during the Cold War era for both cargo and personnel .- History :...
as Military Air Transport Service
Military Air Transport Service
The Military Air Transport Service is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy Naval Air Transport Service and the United States Air Force Air Transport Command into a single, joint, unified command...
(MATS) Charter flight 739.
The Super Constellation carried 93 jungle-trained Army Rangers en route to South Vietnam. Their orders were to relieve soldiers in Saigon who had been training Vietnamese troops to fight Viet Cong guerrillas. Also on board were three members of the Vietnamese military.(if links above fail to load report, visit http://dotlibrary.specialcollection.net and select "Historical Aircraft Accident Reports (1934-1965)", then retry report links) The flight crew consisted of eleven civilians based out of California, including four women. The pilot was Captain Gregory P. Thomas.
The flight originated from Travis Air Force Base, California, and was destined for Saigon. There were four planned refueling stops: Honolulu, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
; Wake Island
Wake Island
Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...
; Guam; and Clark Air Base, Philippines. The flight arrived at Guam at 11:14 GMT after being delayed for minor maintenance on engines numbers 1 and 3 at Honolulu, and later at Wake Island. The aircraft departed from Guam at 12:57 GMT with an estimated time of arrival at the Philippines at 19:16 GMT. The Super Constellation carried nine hours of fuel for the 1600 miles (2,574.9 km), 8-hour flight.
Eighty minutes after departure, at 14:22 GMT, the pilot radioed a routine message and gave his position as being 280 miles west of Guam at coordinates (13°40′N 140°0′E). The aircraft was expected to reach 14°00′N 135°0′E at 15:30. At that time, the Guam IFSS experienced temporary communication difficulties with heavy radio static. At 15:39 the Guam radio operator attempted to contact the flight for a position report but was unable to establish contact. The aircraft was not seen or heard from again.
Investigation
The Clark Field Rescue Coordinating Center declared the aircraft missing the morning of 16 March 1962, 24 hours after the final radio message was received. Navy officials reported that they believed that the aircraft had crashed closer to Guam than the Philippines. At the time of the disappearance, the weather was clear and the sea calm. The Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and Marines ordered aircraft and ships to the area.The first day of searching continued overnight. During the first two days of the search, vessels crisscrossed 75000 square miles (194,249.1 km²) of ocean. Secretary of the Army Elvis Stahr told newspapers that "[w]e have not given up hope that it will be found and that those aboard are safe," and that a "maximum effort" was being made. After four days of searching, Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Theodore R. Milton
Theodore R. Milton
General Theodore Ross Milton was born at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, in 1915. He enlisted in the Regular Army in 1934 and subsequently entered the United States Military Academy, graduating in 1940...
of the 13th Air Force
Thirteenth Air Force
The Thirteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been stationed in the continental United States...
told newspapers that the chance of finding survivors was doubtful, every effort would be made "as long as there is any hope at all."
Search efforts included aircraft from Guam, Clark Field, the US 7th Fleet, and the Air Force at Okinawa
Okinawa Prefecture
is one of Japan's southern prefectures. It consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island...
. Additionally surface ships and aircraft from numerous U.S. base in the western Pacific contributed to the search efforts.
After eight days, the search was called off. The search, which was, at the time, one of the largest to ever take place in the Pacific, had covered more than 200000 square miles (517,997.6 km²) of ocean.
Conspiracy theories
Two Flying Tiger Line aircraft carrying military aid to South Vietnam were destroyed under similar circumstances on the same day, leading to "wild guesses" of sabotage and conspiracy by both airline officials and the media. Both Flight 739 and another L-1049 Super Constellation departed from Travis Air Force Base at around 9:45 PST on Wednesday 14 March 1962 to Saigon on behalf of the Department of Defense, and both encountered difficulties several hours later. The other aircraft was carrying "secret military cargo" when it crashed in the Aleutian Islands and caught fire.Flying Tiger Lines released a statement outlining some possible reasons for the two occurrences, including sabotage of either or both aircraft, and kidnapping of Flight 739 and its passengers. The airline also said that these were merely "wild guesses" and that there was no evidence to support either theory.
Possibility of sabotage
A LiberiaLiberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
n tanker, the SS T L Linzen, reported seeing a bright light in the sky near the aircraft's expected position about 90 minutes after the last radio contact. US military officials described it as being a “bright light strong enough to light” a ship’s decks. The Spokane Daily Chronicle reported that the tanker observed a flash of light approximately 500 miles (804.7 km) west of Guam, followed immediately by two falling red lights falling to the ocean at different speeds.
A Civil Aeronautics Board investigation determined that witnesses aboard the tanker also observed what appeared to be vapor trails, and numerous crewmembers observed the two fireballs fall into the ocean. The tanker proceeded to the location where the fireballs had been observed to impact the ocean but was unable to find any trace of the falling objects during their six-hour search. A spokesman at the rescue effort headquarters in Guam said that as time passed with no sign of the aircraft, "more credence is given to the possibility that the tanker may have seen the missing aircraft explode in flight.”
Officials with the Flying Tiger Line said that if the investigation reveals that an explosion occurred on board the aircraft, it would support their earlier theories of sabotage. The executive vice president of operation told the Associated Press that experts consider it impossible for explosions to occur on the Super-Constellation in the course of normal operation. Additionally he claimed that there is nothing powerful enough aboard the aircraft to completely blow apart the vessel, and that "something violent must have happened."
The Civil Aeronautics Board determined that, given the observations of the tanker crew, the flight most likely exploded in midair. As no part of the wreckage was ever found, the CAB was unable to make a determination as to a determination of cause. The accident report concluded:
See also
- List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
- Air safetyAir safetyAir safety is a term encompassing the theory, investigation and categorization of flight failures, and the prevention of such failures through regulation, education and training. It can also be applied in the context of campaigns that inform the public as to the safety of air travel.-United...
- Arrow Air Flight 1285Arrow Air Flight 1285Arrow Air Flight 1285 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-63CF jetliner, registered N950JW, which operated as an international charter flight carrying U.S. troops from Cairo, Egypt, to their home base in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, via Cologne, Germany and Gander, Newfoundland...
, another disaster involving troop transport.