1951 Atlantic C-124 disappearance

The 1951 Atlantic C-124 disappearance involved a Douglas C-124 Globemaster II of the 2nd Strategic Support Squadron, Strategic Air Command, which ditched into the Atlantic Ocean on the late afternoon of 23 March 1951 after reporting a fire in the cargo hold. The ditching and subsequent evacuation were successful, but the aircraft and its occupants had vanished by the time US Coast Guard Cutter Casco arrived at the last reported location.

Flight

The transport was on a military flight from Walker Air Force Base in Roswell, New Mexico, to RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England, with a stopover at Limestone Air Force Base in Limestone, Maine. It was commanded by Major Robert S. Bell, of the Second Strategic Support Squadron. At 1300 hours on 23 March 1951, the aircraft radioed "Mayday" to weather ship USCGC Casco, reporting a fire in the cargo crates. The radio call gave their position as 51 degrees 30 minutes North, 27 degrees 05 minutes West, according to the logbook of Casco. Unable to extinguish the fire, Major Bell made the decision to ditch while there was still daylight. The exact ditching position of 50 degrees 22 minutes North, 22 degrees 20 minutes West was radioed to Casco. The aircraft landed safely and intact in the water. All hands then donned life preservers and climbed into inflatable 5-man rafts equipped with numerous survival supplies, including food, water, signal flares, cold-weather gear, and "Gibson Girl" hand crank emergency radios.

A Boeing B-29 Superfortress from the 509th Bomb Wing Detachment was en-route from RAF Lakenheath with the intention of joining up with the stricken aircraft and escorting it to the nearest landing site. When the B-29 arrived at the ditching position, the crew saw flares and located the survivors. After the location was reported, the B-29 circled for a time but had to return to base after reaching its minimum fuel required for safe landing. When Casco arrived at the ditching point on 24 March, the aircraft and the men had disappeared. Casco was later joined by British planes, weather ships, a submarine, and several warships, including the USS Coral Sea (CV-43), which arrived at the crash site over 19 hours later, on Sunday, 25 March. All that was found was charred plywood and a briefcase. No human remains were found. The fate of the crashed C-124 and its 53 occupants remains undetermined. James Hopkins, Jr., who had been the aircraft commander on Big Stink (the third aircraft on the August 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombing mission), was among those on board.