What happened
On March 15, 1962, a Lockheed L-1049H, registration N 6911C, crashed while conducting a scheduled cargo operation for The Flying Tiger Line Inc. under contract with the Military Air Transport Service. The flight, designated as FTL 7816/14, was traveling from Travis Air Force Base, California, toward Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, via stops in Cold Bay and Adak, Alaska.
Earlier in the journey, the aircraft had returned to its origin after experiencing buffeting caused by an unsecured hydraulic reservoir access door. Once repaired, the flight continued to Cold Bay without further issues. During the leg from Cold Bay toward Adak, the crew utilized a dual-pilot configuration with the captain and co-pilot occupying the right and left seats respectively.
While operating in instrument weather conditions at Adak, the crew initiated a ground controlled approach (GCA). Despite receiving multiple warnings that the aircraft was flying below the prescribed glide slope and instructions to perform a missed approach, the captain reported that the runway was visible. The crew proceeded with a visual approach, but the aircraft struck rocks 328 feet before reaching the runway threshold and four feet below the runway elevation. The impact tore away the main landing gear, causing the plane to slide 2,000 feet along the runway surface before coming to a halt off the edge. A massive fire erupted following the impact.
Of the seven crew members on board, one fatality occurred when the flight engineer became trapped in the cockpit during the fire. The remaining six injuries were classified as minor.
Findings
The investigation concluded that the accident was driven by the pilot's failure to accurately judge altitude and distance while attempting a visual landing under difficult conditions.