What happened
A four-engine aircraft departed Lajes Airport in the Azores Islands at 23:25 local time on February 1st. The flight was transporting members of the Royal Air Force along with their families, traveling from Stansted toward Kingston, Jamaica.
During the night approach toward the Canadian coastline, the crew transmitted a short emergency message, though the specific details of this communication were never clarified. Shortly after this transmission, the aircraft went down in the Atlantic Ocean. The wreckage was not located near coordinates 46°15 latitude North and 46°31 longitude West, approximately 500 km southeast of Saint John's.
Search and rescue operations were initiated after the flight failed to reach its destination in Gander. However, these efforts were terminated several days later because no debris or remains of the 39 occupants could be found. At the time of the disappearance, weather conditions were reported as favorable.
Findings
Because the aircraft and all passengers remained missing, an official determination regarding the crash could not be made. Investigators noted that the flight crew had been on duty for 19 hours prior to the incident, which was identified as a potential contributing factor to the accident.