This is a list of accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-3A aircraft, which have taken place from 1975 to 1979. It includes aircraft based on the DC-3 airframe such as the Douglas C-47 Skytrain and Lisunov Li-2. Military accidents are covered, as well as hijackings and incidents of terrorism. However, acts of war involving military aircraft are outside the scope of this list.
Crashed shortly after take-off from Bossaso Airport, Boosaaso following an engine malfunction believed to have been caused by contaminated fuel. All eleven people on board survived.[35]
Damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Mtwara Airport. The aircraft was on a scheduled passenger flight. All 19 people on board survived.[37]
Crashed short of the runway at Fort Severn Airport killing all three people on board. The aircraft was operating a non-scheduled passenger flight.[44]
November 3, 1975
Douglas C-47A
C-FOOY
0 None
Written off in a wheels-up landing 43 nautical miles (80 km) north of Frobisher Bay, Northwest Territories. The aircraft was unable to land at its destination due to weather conditions and eventually ran out of fuel. All 26 people on board survived.[45]
Crashed near Capitán Germán Quiroga Guardia Airport, San Borja following a failure of the starboard engine. The aircraft was on a domestic non-scheduled passenger flight. Seven of the ten people on board were killed.[52]
January 29, 1976
Douglas C-47D
T.3-32
—
Involved in an accident and subsequently withdrawn from use.[53]
Crashed into the Kama River following an engine failure. The aircraft hit telephone lines and then crashed. It was on a flight from Moscow to Tyumen.[62]
June 11, 1976
Douglas C-47A
PP-AJC
3
Written off at Rio Manana. Three people were killed.[63]
July 5, 1976
Douglas C-47
—
17
Crashed near Daiku. All 17 people on board were killed.[64]
July 14, 1976
Lisunov Li-2
CCCP-13369
—
Crashed after takeoff from an unidentified Soviet airfield. The wrong type of fuel had been tanked and the aircraft was also overloaded.[65]
Crashed on approach to El Alcaraván Airport, Yopal. The aircraft was on a domestic scheduled passenger flight. Shortly after take-off, the port engine failed and the decision was made to return to El Alcaraván. All 36 people on board were killed.[68]
Damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at El Alto International Airport, La Paz. The aircraft was on a cargo flight, all four people on board survived.[71]
November 30, 1976
Douglas C-117B
N2010
—
Crashed into a mountain near Victoria whilst on a flight dispersing sterile screw-worms.[72]
Damaged beyond economic repair when the undercarriage collapsed on landing at Oborso Airport. The aircraft was on a scheduled passenger flight. All eight people on board survived.[74]
Damaged beyond economic repair in a belly landing at La Senda. The aircraft was on a domestic cargo flight from Viru Viru International Airport, Santa Cruz de la Sierra to Teniente Jorge Henrich Arauz Airport, Trinidad when the pilot decided to return to Viru Viru following a problem with the port engine. The starboard engine also malfunctioned and it was then impossible to maintain height despite cargo being jettisoned. All four people on board survived.[75]
Crashed into the Red Sea shortly after take-off from Aden International Airport. The aircraft was on a scheduled passenger flight. All 19 people on board were killed.[85]
The pilot of a Swiftair flight shot and killed eight passengers whilst the aircraft was in flight. The Douglas DC-3 suffered minor damage. It was repaired and returned to service.[88]
April 5, 1977
Douglas C-47A
VT-EEL
6
Crashed into a hill in the Velikonda Range at Edavlli, killing all ten people on board. The aircraft was on a survey flight.[89]
Hit by a RPG-7 fired by ZANLA guerillas during take-off from Mapai. One person was killed.[76][96]
June 10, 1977
Douglas C-47
5U-AAJ
0 None
Written off in a forced landing at Founkoueye following an engine failure. The aircraft was on a scheduled passenger flight which had departed from Tahoua Airport. All 21 people on board survived.[97]
June 12, 1977
Douglas DC-3A
N33649
—
Written off in a forced landing at Vero Beach, Florida whilst being used to smuggle drugs.[98]
June 12, 1977
Douglas C-47A
ET-AAP
—
Damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Kabri Dar Airport, Kebri Dahar when the port undercarriage collapsed.[99]
Ditched in the sea 1,000 feet (300 m) off San Juan, Puerto Rico. The aircraft was on an international scheduled passenger flight from Saint Thomas Airport, United States Virgin Islands to San Juan. All five people on board survived.[116] The cause of the accident was that the pilot mismanaged the fuel system, running the starboard tanks dry when there was fuel available in the port tanks.[117]
January 27, 1978
Douglas DC-3D
HK-1351
12
Crashed into a mountain at Cerro Granada,[118]Caquetá,[119] killing all twelve people on board. The altitude of the crash site is 6,800 feet (2,100 m), and the mountain was obscured by clouds at the time. The aircraft was on a scheduled passenger flight.[118]
Crashed shortly after take-off from Artigas Airport on a domestic scheduled passenger flight to Carrasco International Airport, Montevideo. All 44 people on board were killed, making this the second-worst involving a DC-3 and the worst aviation accident in Uruguay at the time.[124]
Damaged beyond repair in an accident at Don Nok Royal Thai Air Force Base. The port engine failed shortly after take-off and an emergency landing was being attempted.[126]
March 23, 1978
Douglas C-47A
N1546A
1
Ditched off Grand Turk Island in the Turks and Caicos Islands following an onboard fire. One of the three crew was killed.[127]
May 19, 1978
Douglas C-47A
VT-DEU
8
Crashed at Badkhalsa in India following a failure of the port engine. All eight people on board were killed.[128]
Damaged beyond repair in a take-off accident at Richmond Municipal Airport in the American state of Indiana. All 42 people on board survived. The aircraft was on a local flight dropping parachutists. The cause of the accident was a jam in the elevator control system.[130]
Overran the runway at Flores International Airport in Guatemala following a birdstrike on take-off and was reported to have been damaged beyond economic repair.[132] The aircraft was later repaired and returned to service.[133]
July 28, 1978
Douglas C-47B
F-BIEE
—
Crashed into the Mediterranean Sea off Italy whilst on an illegal flight from France to an unknown African destination.[134][failed verification]
Damaged beyond repair in following a forced landing 6.9 nautical miles (12.8 km) north east of Karima, Sudan following problems with both engines. Following a successful belly landing, the aircraft was destroyed by the subsequent fire.[140]
Damaged beyond economic repair when it overran the runway on landing at Carlos Prates Airport, Belo Horizonte. All 19 people on board survived.[144]
October 15, 1978
Douglas C-47A
ET-AGK
0 None
Damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Soddu Airport in Ethiopia following a hydraulic system failure. The aircraft was on a domestic scheduled passenger flight. All 32 people on board survived.[145] The aircraft was later used as an instructional airframe.[146] As of July 2010, the aircraft is reported to be stored at Addis Ababa.[147]
October 25, 1978
Douglas C-47A
ET-AGQ
0 None
Damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Degahbur Airport. Although the aircraft was on a cargo flight, it was carrying nine passengers and four crew, all of whom survived.[148]
November 14, 1978
Douglas C-47A
4W-ABY
—
Damaged beyond economic repair in a landing accident at Mareb Airport in Egypt.[149]
Crashed shortly after take-off from Sebring Airport, Florida and was destroyed by fire. The gust locks had not been removed before flight and the aircraft was overloaded. All three people on board were killed.[153]
December 11, 1978
Douglas C-49J
N133AC
2
Crashed near Port Mayaca, Florida due to fuel exhaustion. The aircraft was being used to smuggle marijuana at the time and both crew were killed.[154]
December 14, 1978
Douglas C-47A
N4996E
—
Written off in a crash landing in a sugar cane field at Battle Creek, Florida whilst being used to smuggle marijuana.[155] The pilot was not qualified to fly the aircraft and mismanaged the fuel system. both crew were killed.[156]
Damaged in a landing accident at Oborso Airport. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service.[163]
May 7, 1979
Douglas DC-3
TG-SAB
—
Damaged in a landing accident at Flores International Airport, Flores-Santa Elena when it departed the runway and collided with a car. The aircraft was subsequently repaired and returned to service.[164]
June 11, 1979
Douglas C-47A
N148Z
10
Damaged beyond repair when an engine caught fire in flight and then fell off. The aircraft was on a domestic non-scheduled passenger flight that had departed from Grangeville County Airport. Although a forced landing was made in the Selway River some 48 nautical miles (89 km) north east of Elk City, Idaho, ten of the twelve people on board were killed.[165]
Written off in a landing accident at Bettles Airport in the American state of Alaska. The aircraft struck three parked aircraft. It was on a cargo flight from Fairbanks International Airport, Alaska,[170] to Ambler Airport, Alaska via Bettles. All four aircraft were substantially damaged.[171]
November 10, 1979
Douglas C-47B
ST-AHH
—
Crashed at Kadugli Airport in Sudan and was destroyed by the subsequent fire.[172]
November 13, 1979
Douglas C-47A
PT-KVT
—
Crashed 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) north of Cascavel.[173]
December 27, 1979
Douglas C-47
313
2
Crashed at Puerto Lempira in Honduras whilst on a military flight. Both crew were killed and some of the passengers were injured.[174]
^Note A Military versions of the DC-3 were known as C-47 Skytrain, C-48, C-49, C-50, C-51, C-52, C-53 Skytrooper, C-68, C-84, C-117 Super Dakota and YC-129 by the United States Army Air Forces and as the R4D by the United States Navy. In Royal Air Force (and other British Commonwealth air forces') service, these aircraft were known as Dakotas.