What happened
A four-engine cargo aircraft departed Travis Air Force Base at 22:20 local time on March 26, bound for Honolulu. The flight was operated with a crew of three and included one passenger.
During the cruise phase at 8,000 feet, the aircraft experienced a loss of hydraulic pressure in the fourth engine at approximately 01:55 local time on March 27. In response to this failure, the crew shut down the engine and feathered its propeller. Following this event, the captain initiated a diversion toward San Francisco for an emergency landing.
Roughly one hour later, the aircraft encountered a second mechanical issue when the manifold pressure in the third engine dropped significantly. The crew proceeded to shut down the third engine and feather its propeller as well. Due to the loss of power and the inability to sustain a safe flight altitude, the crew executed a ditching maneuver in the Pacific Ocean a few miles from the San Francisco coastline.
Findings
The incident resulted in zero fatalities and zero injuries, as all four people on board were successfully rescued. The aircraft subsequently sank approximately five hours after the ditching occurred. The primary factor contributing to the emergency was the simultaneous loss of power and manifold pressure across two engines.