1955 Hawaii R6D-1 crash

1955 Hawaii R6D-1 Crash
A U.S. Navy R6D-1 Liftmaster, similar to the accident aircraft, operating for the Military Air Transportation Service in the 1950s
Accident
DateMarch 22, 1955
SummaryControlled flight into terrain
SitePali Kea Peak, Waianae Range, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, United States
21°26′21″N 158°05′53″W / 21.4392°N 158.098°W / 21.4392; -158.098
Aircraft
Aircraft typeDouglas R6D-1 Liftmaster
OperatorUnited States Navy for Military Air Transport Service
RegistrationBuNo 131612
Flight originTokyo, Japan
Last stopoverHickam Air Force Base, Territory of Hawaii
DestinationTravis Air Force Base, California
Occupants66
Passengers57
Crew9
Fatalities66
Survivors0

The 1955 Hawaii R6D-1 crash was an accident involving a Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster of the United States Navy which crashed into a mountain peak in Hawaii on 22 March 1955, killing all 66 people on board. At the time, it was the worst crash involving any variant of the Douglas DC-6 airliner the second-worst aviation accident in U.S. history, and one of the worst air accidents anywhere in history, and it equaled the 11 August mid-air collision of two United States Air Force C-119G Flying Boxcars over West Germany and the 6 October United Air Lines Flight 409 crash as the deadliest air accident of 1955. It remains the worst air disaster in the history of Hawaii and the deadliest accident involving a heavier-than-air aircraft in the history of United States naval aviation.