Incident Overview
On September 23, 1962, Flying Tiger Line Flight 923, a chartered military transport flight operated by a Lockheed Constellation L-1049H, ditched in the North Atlantic Ocean. The aircraft was transporting 68 military personnel of the United States Army from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey to Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany.
Sequence of Events
While flying over the North Atlantic on the Gander-Frankfurt leg, the number 3 engine fire warning sounded, and the engine was shut down. During the attempt to complete the engine shutdown checklist, the flight engineer accidentally turned off the oil flow to the number 1 engine, leaving the aircraft operating on only two engines. Approximately an hour later, after the crew began diverting to Shannon, Ireland, the number 2 engine caught fire and had to be operated at reduced thrust.
Ditching and Rescue
The aircraft ditched in the North Atlantic. Forty-eight occupants survived and spent six hours on a life raft until the MS Celerina arrived at the scene and rescued them.