- Date
- December 23, 1986, 18:00 local (Dec 24, 1986, 02:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pacific Ocean, WA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N96361Douglas C-54/DC-4
- Weather
- Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19861223081679A
- Case key
- 40578
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plt reptd that he ditched his DC-4 in the Pacific Ocean on the evening of December 23 after experiencing an uncontrollable no. 3 eng fire at the conclusion of a tng flt. The ditching occurred in dark night conditions with minimal 10 foot swells having a period of approximately 10 seconds and the acrft was reptd to have remained afloat approximately 10 minutes after the ditching. Although the flt penetrated the Pacific coastal adiz on at least 2 occasions no radar evidence corroborated the penetrations nor was there any receipt of the plts mayday on 121.5 mhz. No wreckage has been observed along the Washington shoreline since the event. Wx condtns at 1750 hrs PST within 20 miles of the ditching were reptd as measured 900 foot ovcst with 1.5 miles vis in light rain and fog. Sfc winds prevailed from the southeast yet the two plts reptdly drifted northeast covering a distance of at least 14 nautical miles via raft in 16 hours. The board's findings surrounding this event remain undetermined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N96361
- Reported as
- Douglas C-54/DC-4
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 90412
- Airframe hours
- 27,804
- Engine
- P&W R-2000, 1,450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Fire
- In-Flight
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- West Coast Air Cargo
- Registered owner
- Services Organized, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Unknown · August 1, 1986 · 60 hours before
- Departed
- S88 · Arlington, WA
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 37
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,500 total · 400 in this make and model · 4,000 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Night/dark
- Visibility
- 2 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 900 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 48 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- UIL, 18 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.