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1948 aviation accident

Pan Am Flight 1-10
Accident
Pan Am Lockheed L-049 Constellation Clipper Great Republic at London Heathrow, similar to the aircraft involved
Date	15 April 1948
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain due to mechanical and/or electrical failure
Site	Shannon, Ireland 52°42′57.86″N 8°53′55.3″W / 52.7160722°N 8.898694°W / 52.7160722; -8.898694
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-049-51-26 Constellation
Aircraft name	Clipper Empress of the Skies
Operator	Pan American World Airways
Registration	NC88858
Flight origin	San Francisco
1st stopover	Calcutta
2nd stopover	Damascus
3rd stopover	Istanbul
4th stopover	Brussels
5th stopover	London
Last stopover	Shannon Airport
Destination	New York City
Occupants	31
Passengers	21
Crew	10
Fatalities	30
Injuries	1
Survivors	1

Pan Am Flight 1-10 was a Pan American passenger flight from London to Shannon Airport, part of a flight around the world from San Francisco, California, to New York City. On 15 April 1948, the Lockheed Constellation serving the flight crashed 725 meters (2,379 ft) short of Runway 23 at Shannon. Ten flight crew and 20 passengers died in the crash; 1 passenger survived with minor injuries.

Description

"Pan Am Flight 1-10", flown with the Pan American Airways Lockheed Constellation, aircraft NC-88858 named "Clipper Empress of the Skies", departed from a London airport at 0:35 am.

At 1:59 am it reported to Shannon Airport that it was at the marker at Limerick Junction. The flight received clearance to land on runway 23 at 2:10 am but reported a missed approach ten minutes later. After getting a second clearance to land, it struck a stone fence 725 meters (2,379 ft) short of the runway, but perfectly aligned with it.

The initial crash ripped the plane apart. The undercarriage and the engines were torn off while the fuselage broke into three pieces. Fire destroyed the remains of the fuselage.

Cause of the accident

The U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board investigated the crash and published its findings on 24 June 1948:

The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the continuation of an instrument approach to an altitude insufficient to clear the terrain. A contributing factor may have been the failure of the pilot's instrument fluorescent light.

The flight crew had earlier reported trouble with the pilot's instrument fluorescent light. At earlier stops in Brussels and London this light had failed too, but the maintenance crew in London could not repair it due to lack of spare parts.

Shannon Airport had earlier reported a fire in its ILS system, causing the system to fail. By the time the "Clipper Empress of the Skies" arrived, the system was again fully functional.

Passenger list

The lone survivor was a Lockheed Aircraft Company employee. He was Lockheed's former maintenance manager at Shannon and, when found, was taken to hospital suffering from extensive burns and abrasions. He believed his injuries happened when he was thrown through the floor of belly baggage compartment which he thinks happened as the tail section fell off the plane. He had unfastened his safety belt when he realised the plane was going to crash, yet other passengers seemed quite calm. He later said that "I was a little dazed but I was able to get up and walk away" though worse off than he thought. The wife of the survivor had been waiting at the airport for him to arrive and saw a person staggering away from the burning wreckage. She accompanied Pan Am officials to the crash site to help, not knowing the person she saw was her husband and only survivor.

Among those killed in the crash were Mumtaz Shahnawaz, a Pakistani diplomat and writer; and Homi Maneck Mehta, an Indian industrialist.

References

Clipper Empress of the Skies Accident Investigation Report Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
Healy, Alison (11 February 2011). "Irish air disasters: the most significant crashes". Irish Times. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
Australian Associated Press (16 April 1948). "Wife Sees Airport Drama". The Advertiser (Adelaide). p. 1. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
"Booklet written about the crash by Tony Cassidy". Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.

External links

Accident description at aviation-safety.net
Civil Aeronautics Board, Original Accident Investigation Report (PDF) - Alternate link
19 Americans Among 30 Killed in Airliner Crash Defiance Crescent News Ohio

v t e Lockheed Constellation family
Model numbers	L-049 L-051 L-084 L-104 L-139 L-149 L-249 L-349 L-449 L-549 L-649 L-749 L-849 L-949 L-1049 A B/F L-1149 L-1249 L-1449 L-1549 L-1649
Names	Constellation (I) Constellation (II) Constellation (III) Speedfreighter Starliner Super Constellation (I) Super Constellation (II)
Military designations	B-30 C-69 C-121 F EC-121 PO R7O/R7V -2 WV W2V
Accidents and incidents	TWA Flight 513 (1946) TWA Flight 6963 (1946) Pan Am Flight 121 (1947) Pan Am Flight 1-10 (1948) Air France Flight 009 (1949) TWA Flight 903 (1950) Air India Flight 245 (1950) Pan Am Flight 151 (1951) Air France Flight 152 (1953) Air France Flight 178 (1953) KLM Flight 633 (1954) Air India Flight 300 (1955) El Al Flight 402 (1955) LAV Flight 253 (June 1956) TWA Flight 2 (1956) LAV Flight 253 (November 1956) KLM Flight 844 (1957) KLM Flight 607-E (1958) Lufthansa Flight 502 (1959) TWA Flight 891 (1959) Avianca Flight 671 (1960) Air France Flight 343 (1960) TWA Flight 266 (1960) Air France Flight 406 (1961) TWA Flight 529 (1961) IA Flight 201/8 (1961) FTL Flight 739 (1962) Paradise Airlines Flight 901A (1964) EAL Flight 853 (1965) LANSA Flight 501 (1966)
Notable aircraft	Avion Pirata Columbine II Kashmir Princess
Topics	Operators Variants

Pan Am

Employees

Juan Trippe

History

Accidents &
incidents

Samoan Clipper (1938)
Hawaii Clipper (1938)
Sikorsky S-43 crash (1939)
Flight 1104 (1943)
China Clipper (1945)
Flight 121 (1947)
Flight 923 (1947)
Flight 1-10 (1948)
Flight 151 (1951)
Flight 526A (1952)
Flight 202 (1952)
Flight 845/26 (1955)
Flight 6 (1956)
Flight 7 (1957)
Flight 115 (1959)
Clipper Panama (1959)
Flight 214 (1963)
Flight 843 (1965)
Flight 292 (1965)
Flight 708 (1966)
Flight 799 (1968)
Flight 845 (1971)
Flight 841 (1972)
Flight 816 (1973)
Flight 806 (1974)
Flight 812 (1974)
Flight 1736 (1977)
Flight 830 (1982)
Flight 759 (1982)
Flight 73 (1986)
Flight 103 (1988)

1985 Pan Am strike

Subsidiaries

Pan Am Express, Uraba, Medellin and Central Airways

Category

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1948 (1948)
Jan 28 Los Gatos DC-3 crashJan 30 BSAA Star Tiger disappearanceMar 2 Heathrow disasterMar 10 Delta Air Lines Flight 705Mar 12 Northwest Airlines Flight 4422Apr 5 Gatow air disasterApr 15 Pan Am Flight 1-10Apr 21 British European Airways Flight S200PApr 24 Bodaybo Li-2 crashMay 12 Sabena Douglas DC-4 crashMay 17 Cebu Philippine Air Lines DC-3 crashJun 17 United Airlines Flight 624Jul 1 Keerbergen Fiat G.212 airplane crashJul 4 Northwood mid-air collisionJul 16 PBY Catalina Miss MacaoJul 21 Lake Mead B-29 crashAug 1 Air France Flight 072Aug 29 Northwest Airlines Flight 421Aug 31 Sabena Douglas C-47 crashSep 2 Australian National Airways DC-3 crashSep 3 Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster crashOct 2 Bukken Bruse disasterOct 6 Waycross B-29 crashOct 12 Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-12 crashOct 20 KLM Constellation disasterNov 8 Beechcraft Model 18 disappearanceDec 28 Airborne Transport DC-3 disappearance
1947 ◄ ► 1949

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1948 (1948)

Jan 28 Los Gatos DC-3 crashJan 30 BSAA Star Tiger disappearanceMar 2 Heathrow disasterMar 10 Delta Air Lines Flight 705Mar 12 Northwest Airlines Flight 4422Apr 5 Gatow air disasterApr 15 Pan Am Flight 1-10Apr 21 British European Airways Flight S200PApr 24 Bodaybo Li-2 crashMay 12 Sabena Douglas DC-4 crashMay 17 Cebu Philippine Air Lines DC-3 crashJun 17 United Airlines Flight 624Jul 1 Keerbergen Fiat G.212 airplane crashJul 4 Northwood mid-air collisionJul 16 PBY Catalina Miss MacaoJul 21 Lake Mead B-29 crashAug 1 Air France Flight 072Aug 29 Northwest Airlines Flight 421Aug 31 Sabena Douglas C-47 crashSep 2 Australian National Airways DC-3 crashSep 3 Royal Air Force Avro Lancaster crashOct 2 Bukken Bruse disasterOct 6 Waycross B-29 crashOct 12 Aeroflot Ilyushin Il-12 crashOct 20 KLM Constellation disasterNov 8 Beechcraft Model 18 disappearanceDec 28 Airborne Transport DC-3 disappearance

1947 ◄ ► 1949

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in Ireland
1940s	TWA Flight 6963 (December 1946) Pan Am Flight 1-10 (April 1948)
1950s	Nutts Corner BEA Vickers Viking accident (January 1953)# KLM Flight 633 (September 1954) KLM Flight 607-E (August 1958)* Pan Am Clipper Panama (June 1959)
1960s	Alitalia Flight 618 (February 1960) President Airlines Douglas DC-6 (September 1961) Aer Lingus Flight 712 (March 1968)
1970s	British Army Gazelle downing (February 1978)# American Airlines Flight 293 (June 1979)
1980s	Air India Flight 182 (June 1985)* template 1988 British Army Lynx shootdown (June 1988)#
1990s	British Army Gazelle shootdown (February 1990)# 1991 British Army Lynx shootdown (February 1991)# 1994 British Army Lynx shootdown (March 1994)# Irish Marine Emergency Service Rescue 111 (July 1999)
2010s	Manx2 Flight 7100 (February 2011) Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 (March 2017)
Accidents with the pound sign (#) occurred in Northern Ireland, which is a part of the United Kingdom, while others occurred in the Republic of Ireland. Accidents with asteriks (*) occurred in the ocean near Ireland

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