| SKC Films Library >> In The Year... >> 1947 | ||||||||
Disasters in 1947 AVIATION January 5 Three persons were killed and 16 injured when a transport plane en route from Miami, Florida, to Newark, New Jersey, crashed in a heavy snow storm near Vineland, New Jersey. January 12 An Eastern Airlines DC-3 crashed during a rainstorm near Galax, Virginia. Eighteen of the nineteen persons aboard were killed. [contemporary account] January 26 A Royal Dutch Airlines plane crashed just after taking off from Kastrup (Denmark) Airport. All twenty-two persons aboard were killed, including American singer Grace Moore, Danish actress Gerda Neumann, and Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden. January 27 Eleven U.S. Army fliers, most of them combat veterans, died when a B-29 crashed soon after taking off on a training mission from Kirtland Field, New Mexio. One soldier was pulled alive from the wreckage, but died three days later. [contemporary account] February 15 A Colombian AviancaAirlines plane crashed into Mount Tablazo, northwest of Bogotá, Colombia, killing 53 persons. April 21 Nine persons were killed when a special Delta Airplanes plane carrying 8 employees collided with a private plane while landing at Columbus, Georgia; the private plane's pilot was the ninth victim. May 18 Philippine President Manuel A. Roxas' personal airplane crashed high on the eastern slope of 9,250-foot Katanglad Mountain, killing former Interior Secretary Rafael Aluman; Colonel Edwin Andrews, chief of the Philippine Army Air Force; Francisco Zuleta, brother of the present Secretary of the Interior; Dr. Alfredo Paredes, an official in the Resettlement Administration; and twelve other government and army men. May 18 A U.S. Navy pilot and 2 schoolboys were killed and six children were injured when a fighter jet went out of control during an airshow and crashed on a school playground in Burlington, Iowa. [contemporary account] May 29 A United Airlines passenger plane crashed while attempting to take off from La Guardia Field in New York, New York. Forty of the 48 persons aboard died at the scene; 3 of the survivors later died of their injuries. May 29 The crash of an Icelandic Airways plane in northern Iceland killed 25 persons. May 30 An Eastern Airlines plane bound for Miami, Florida, crashed into a wooded area near Bainbridge, Maryland, killing all 53 persons aboard. [contemporary account] June 13 A Capital Airlines plane flying from Chicago, Illinois, to Washington, D.C. crashed into a mountain near Hillsboro, Virginia, killing all 50 persons aboard. The wreckage was found by a search plane several hours after ground controllers had lost radio contact with the plane. [contemporary account] July 13 Twenty-one persons (19 passengers and the pilot and co-pilot) were killed when a DC-3 charter plane en route from Newark, New Jersey, to Miami, Florida, crashed into a swamp near Melbourne, Florida. The plane was carrying 31 home-bound Puerto Ricans and a crew of 5. [contemporary account] October 24 A United Airlines DC-6 enroute from Los Angeles, California, to Chicago, Illinois, crashed in Utah's Bryce Canyon, killing all 52 persons aboard. [contemporary account] October 26 A Pan American World Airways clipper plane with 18 persons aboard disappeared near Ketchikan, Alaska. The plane's wreckage was eventually found, with no sign that anyone survived the crash. [contemporary account]
December 9 A Royal Canadian Air Transport Command C-54 crashed in a remote area of Labrador, Canada, killing 23 of the 29 men aboard. December 11 A C-47 transport plane carrying 20 army officers and men crashed while landing at the Memphis (Tennessee) Airport and exploded. All aboard were reported killed instantly. [contemporary account] December 16 Twelve of the 20 crew members of a Jamaica-bound B-29 died in the flaming wreckage of the four-engined bomber a few minutes after taking off from Davis-Monthan Field at Tucson, Arizona. FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS February 9 About 150 persons were killed in a dance hall fire in the British Zone of Berlin, Germany. February 27 Five men were killed and three others injured when a filling station in downtown Bristol, Tennessee, was leveled by an explosion. [contemporary account] March 1 A groom and 12 thoroughbreds died in a fire that destroyed two stables at the Oak Lawn Race Track in Hot Springs, Arkansas. April 2 An explosion and fire at a fireworks manufacturing plant in Clinton, Misouri, killed 12 persons and injured 3 others. [contemporary account]
July 21 Four persons were killed and several buildings were destroyed when three bulk gasoline and storage tanks exploded in Minot, North Dakota. [contemporary account] July 28 A Norwegian Liberty ship loaded with nitrate exploded in the harbor at Brest, France, killing 8 persons and injuring several hundred. July 29 An explosion destroyed a combination beauty shop and school in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Ten women were killed and 30 persons were injured. [contemporary account] August 18 An explosion in a naval torpedo and mine factory in Cadiz, Spain, killed 147 persons and injured over 5,000.
December 4 Fire leveled the Strong, Maine, mill of the Forster Manufacturing Co., the world's largest toothpick manufacturers, after an explosion in a separator sent 300 night employes fleeing from the plant. One worker was injured. MARINE January 19 Three hundred and ninety-two people were killed when the Greek steamer Himara sank after striking a mine off Rafina, Greece. September 24 The freighter SS Milverton collided with a loaded oil tanker in the St. Lawrence River at Massena, New York. The resulting explosion killed 6 seaman and injured 9 others;7 men were reported missing. |
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