What happened
The pilot reported that he ditched his DC-4 aircraft in the Pacific Ocean during the evening of December 23. This incident occurred at the conclusion of a training flight. The crew experienced an uncontrollable fire in the number three engine prior to the ditching.
The ditching took place under dark night conditions. Sea state was described as having minimal swells of approximately 10 feet with a period of roughly 10 seconds. The aircraft reportedly remained afloat for about 10 minutes after entering the water.
Weather conditions at 1750 hours PST, within 20 miles of the ditching site, included an overcast ceiling at 900 feet and visibility of 1.5 miles in light rain and fog. Surface winds were from the southeast.
Although the flight penetrated the Pacific Coastal Air Defense Identification Zone on at least two occasions, no radar evidence corroborated these penetrations. Additionally, there was no receipt of a Mayday call on the emergency frequency of 121.5 MHz. No wreckage has been observed along the Washington shoreline since the event.
The two pilots reportedly drifted northeast via raft, covering a distance of at least 14 nautical miles over the course of 16 hours.
Findings
The Board's findings surrounding this event remain undetermined.