1957 Pacific Ocean Boeing C-97 disappearance
United States Air Force Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter · Aircraft disappearance for unknown reasons
From Travis Air Force Base (SUU) to Yokota Air Base (OKO)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 67 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 67
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Military
Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter
- Aircraft type
- Boeing C-97
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- 50-0702
- Operator
- United States Air Force
- Onboard fatalities
- 67
- Route
- From Travis Air Force Base (SUU)To Yokota Air Base (OKO)
Cause areas
- Not determined › Not determined
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
On Friday, March 22, 1957, a Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter of the United States Air Force (USAF), registered as 50-0702 and assigned to the 1501st Air Transport Wing group, was flying from Wake Island Airfield, Wake Island, to Yokota Air Base, Tokyo, Japan, with 57 passengers and 10 crew members on board. When the flight was about 200 miles east off the Japanese coast, the flight disappeared over the Pacific Ocean with everyone on board. This is the deadliest incident involving a Boeing C-97 and as of September 2026, no bodies or a single piece of the aircraft have been found.
Investigation and cause
Conclusion
Since the aircraft was not found, evidence was lacking. As a result, investigators were unable to find out why the aircraft disappeared. Poor weather conditions were also reported near the area where the aircraft was last heard from. To this day, the wreckage of the aircraft remains missing and so are the 67 occupants on board.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1957 Pacific Ocean Boeing C-97 disappearance” (revision 1344798739, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1957 Pacific Ocean Boeing C-97 disappearance
- Revision
- 1344798739 · 2026-03-22 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q133896506
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1957 Pacific Ocean Boeing C-97 disappearance" (page 79627630, revision 1344798739)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.