What happened
During a flight from Pago Pago to Hickam Field in Honolulu, an aircraft engaged in an observation mission for French atmospheric nuclear tests disappeared over the Pacific Ocean. The flight was operating at an altitude of 33,000 feet and traveling at a speed of 870 km/h under favorable weather conditions. During the flight, a crew member attempted to communicate with Air Traffic Control, though the transmission could not be understood by controllers.
Approximately five minutes after this inaudible contact, the aircraft type entered a steep dive. The plane subsequently crashed into the ocean roughly 1,100 km southwest of Hawaii. Search efforts recovered very little debris from the surface of the water. There were 24 fatalities and no survivors recorded from the incident.
Findings
Investigations into the crash could not establish a definitive reason for the accident due to a lack of physical evidence. While it was noted that the aircraft remained structurally intact until it struck the water, investigators examined recent changes to the plane's configuration. Shortly before the flight, the aircraft had been fitted with a new radome and 11 extra portholes; however, officials determined that these recent technical modifications were not a factor in the crash.