The Douglas DC-4 is a piston-engine airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1942 to 1947. The type was originally designed as a commercial airliner, but until the end of World War II, all were built as military transports. After the war, many of these military aircraft were converted into commercial transports. Including military versions, more than 1200 DC-4s were built; a few are still flying today.
The DC-4 was known as the C-54 Skymaster in United States Army and Air Force service. In United States Navy service prior to 1962 it was known as the R5D; that year all U.S. Navy variants were also designated as the C-54.
Notable civil accidents and incidents
1940s
15 January 1943 US Army Air Force C-54 41-32939 crashed 25 mi ENE of Paramaribo, Suriname en route to North Africa from the United States after an unexplained midair breakup, killing all 35 on board, including Eric Knight, author of the novel Lassie Come-Home. The aircraft was operated by TWA on behalf of the USAAF's Air Transport Command. Two other C-54s flying before and after the crashed C-54 noticed anti-aircraft fire from what looked like an enemy submarine.
9 July 1943 US Army Air Force C-54 41-37271 was performing a flight over Wright Patterson Air Base when USAAF Lockheed C-40A 38-546 struck the wing of the C-54; the C-40 entered a spin and crashed near the runway; the C-54 stayed airborne for 500–750 feet before it also crashed, allowing two passengers (of five people on board) to bail out of the C-54; all five on board the C-40 died.
26 January 1944 US Army Air Force C-54A 41-37292 crashed on takeoff from Accra Airport, killing at least 23.
25 March 1944 US Army Air Force C-54A 41-37274 was accidentally shot down by a Royal Navy Grumman F4F fighter and crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Azores, killing all six on board. The aircraft had overflown a convoy at and the fighter mistook the C-54 for a German Focke-Wulf Fw 200.
20 June 1944 TWA Flight 277, a C-54A, struck the side of Fort Mountain after the pilot became disoriented in bad weather, killing all eight on board. The aircraft was operated by TWA on behalf of the USAAF's Air Transport Command.
26 July 1944 US Army Air Force C-54A 42-107470 disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean off Greenland with 26 on board; the aircraft was never found.
28 August 1944 US Army Air Force C-54A 42-72171 crashed in a residential area near Prestwick Airport while attempting to land, killing all 20 on board and five on the ground. The aircraft was too low during final approach.
4 September 1944 US Navy R5D-2 90385 ditched in San Francisco Bay, killing one of five on board.
7 September 1944 US Army Air Force C-54A 42-72211 crashed near Presque Isle Army Air Base while on a training flight due to a possible maintenance error, killing the three crew.
9 November 1944 US Army Air Force C-54A 42-107438 crashed in Marathon Bay shortly after takeoff from Florida Keys Airport, killing the four crew.
11 November 1944 US Army Air Force C-54A 42-72252 crashed 50 mi off Oahu, killing all 17 on board.
12 November 1944 US Army Air Force C-54A 42-107427 struck a mountain near Cape St. George, Canada, killing nine of 18 on board.
17 March 1945 US Army Air Force C-54B 42-72418 crashed somewhere in the China Burma India Theater, killing at least four crew. The wreckage was never found.
19 March 1945 US Army Air Force C-54A 42-72264 crashed 4 mi off Rock Harbor, Florida while on a training flight, killing the five crew; the wreckage was found the next day in 19 feet of water.
1 April 1945 US Army Air Force C-54A 42-72244 was written off at an unknown location.
5 May 1945 US Army Air Force C-54E 44-9043 crashed in mountainous terrain on Manus Island due to possible pilot error, killing all 21 on board.
24 May 1945 US Army Air Force C-54B 42-72385 was destroyed on the ground at Yontan Airfield during a Japanese attack.
18 June 1945 US Army Force C-54B 42-72372 was being ferried from Casablanca to Karachi when it crashed southeast of Biskra due to severe turbulence, killing the four crew.
3 July 1945 US Army Air Force C-54D 42-72680 struck a hillside near Vila do Porto, Azores and broke up, killing the four crew.
4 July 1945 US Army Air Force C-54B 42-72310 disappeared near Kunming, China.
20 July 1945 US Army Air Force C-54E 44-9026 crashed near New Castle Army Air Base while performing an instrument approach, killing the four crew; the cause was never determined.
11 September 1945 US Army Air Force C-54G 45-526 crashed near Linan, China, killing at least four.