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| SKC Films Library >> In The Year... >> 1958 | ||||||
Disasters in 1958 Links will open in a new window. AVIATION January 14 A U.S. Navy transport crashed in Maryland while attempting to land in fog; all nine aboard were killed. January 15 A U.S. Air Force weather reconnaissance B-29 carrying 10 crewmen disappeared near Guam while flying near the eye of Typhoon Ophelia. February 1 A four-engine military transport collided with a Navy patrol bomber over Norwalk, California, killing all 41 of the transport crew, 6 of the 8 persons aboard the bomber, and a Norwalk resident. February 15 All 16 U.S. servicemen aboard an Air Force C-47 were killed when the transport, en route from West Germany to Istanbul, Turkey, crashed on Mount Vesuvius. February 19 A Catalina flying boat broke up while landing in a lagoon in the Society Islands, killing 15 of the 26 persons aboard. February 20 A U.S. Navy Super Constellation with a crew of 22 disappeared off the Azores while on a radar patrol flight from Argentia, Newfoundland, Canada. February 27 A British Wayfarer on its way to Manchester, England, crashed in a blizzard near Bolton, England, killing 35 of the 42 persons aboard. March 7 An in-air collision of a U.S. Marine Corps transport plane and a Marine jet fighter over Okinawa killed the jet's pilot and all 25 persons aboard the transport. March 10 An Argentine Air Force jet fighter exploded in flight and crashed in the street of a suburb of Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 10 persons, half of them children, and severly burning many others. March 24 All 20 persons aboard an Indian Airlines DC-3 were killed when it crashed in Nepal. March 24 A Braniff International Airways DC-7C bound for Panama crashed and burned soon after taking off from Miami, Florida, killing 9 of the 24 persons aboard. March 27 Two U.S. Air Force planes collided in overcast skies over Bridgeport, Texas. All 15 persons aboard the Globemaster and 3 on the Flying Boxcar were killed.
April 8 An Ecuadoran airliner with 32 persons aboard went down in the jungle somewhere between Guayaquil and Quito, Ecuador. April 14 A Spanish airliner plunged into the Mediterranean Sea near Barcelona, Spain, killing all 16 persons aboard. April 15 Two B-47 bombers crashed, killing four persons aboard each, one in New Hampshire and the other off the Florida coast.
May 15 A Pakistan National Airways Convair crashed and burned after taking off from New Delhi, India, killing 21 of the 38 persons aboard, including 2 Americans. May 18 A Belgian DC-8 airliner en route to the Belgian Congo smashed through a military building in Casablanca, Morocco, during an emergency landing. Four passengers escaped through an exit before the plane exploded, killing the other 65 persons aboard. June 2 All 45 persons aboard a Mexican Lockheed Constellation died when the airliner crashed in the mountains during a rainstorm while en route from Tijuana to Mexico City, Mexico; 15 of the victims were Americans. June 16 A Cruzeiro do Sul Convair hit a tree while landing in a storm near Curitiba, Brazil. Six persons survived but 21 died, including former acting President of Brazil Nereu Ramos. June 24 A mid-air collision between a French Air Force combat helicopter and a fighter plane near Algiers, Algeria, killed 11 soldiers. June 27 Four KC-135's tankers attached to the Strategic Air Command were scheduled to attempt to break the New York-to-London round-trip record. One of the planes crashed in flames soon after taking off from Westover Air Force Base, Maryland, and 15 persons were killed, six of them newsmen. July 4 A U.S. Air Force plane with 9 persons aboard crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 185 miles north of Johnston Island. Three persons were rescued. July 29 A U.S. Air Force plane crashed while landing near Limestone, Maine, killing 8 of the 9 persons aboard. August 9 A Central African Airways Viscount en route from Southern Rhodesia crashed into a mountain near Bengasi, Libya, killing 36 of the 44 persons aboard. August 12 Twelve persons were killed while flying to aid flood victims in southern Argentina. The plane, an Argentine Air Force DC-3, crashed soon after leaving Trelew, Argentina. August 12 A Japanese commercial airliner crashed off Okinawa Island. All 33 persons were presumed killed. August 13 A U.S. Air Force KB-50 en route from Wiesbaden, Germany, to England was believed to have exploded in mid-air before crashing into a forest in southeastern Belgium, killing all 10 crewmen. August 14 A New York-bound KLM-Royal Dutch Superconstellation with 99 persons aboard crashed into the North Atlantic Ocean about 130 miles west of Shannon, Ireland. There were no survivors; victims included 51 Americans. It was the worst disaster involving a single commercial airplane to that date. August 15 A Northeast Airlines Convair crashed while attempting to land in heavy fog at Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing 24 of the 34 persons aboard, including Gordon Dean, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. September 2 A military Air Transport Service C-124 with 19 aboard bound for the Philippines went down in the Pacific Ocean soon after leaving Guam. September 5 A Brazilian Airlines C-46 crashed while landing at Campino Grane, Brazil, killing 11 of the 45 persons aboard. September 8 A collision of two B-52 bombers near Spokane, Washington, killed 13 crew members and left 3 injured. September 9 A U.S. Air Force C-47 transport plane crashed and burned after taking off from Anchorage, Alaska, killing 12 of the 17 persons aboard. September 29 A U.S. Navy P2V aubmarine hunter with 10 persons aboard plunged into Florida Bay. October 1 Reports from Taipei, Formosa, said that a Nationalist Chinese seaplane with 11 aboard was missing over Taiwan Strait. October 9 All 19 persons aboard a U.S. Air Force C-123 troop cargo plane were killed when the plane apparently hit a flock of geese and crashed in southwestern Idaho. October 14 A Venezuelan Airlines Super Constellation hit a mountain peak in bad weather during its flight from Panama to Maracaibo, Venezuela, killing all 24 persons aboard. October 17 All 55 passengers and a crew of 10 were killed when a Soviet TU-104 en route from Peking, China, to Moscow, Russia, crashed near Kanash. October 18 Eleven persons were killed when a U.S. Navy Super Constellation plunged into rough waters in Placentia Bay while carrying personnel to duty in Newfoundland. October 22 An Italian Air Force jet fighter and a British Super-Viscount airliner collided over Nettuno, Italy. All 31 persons aboard the airliner were killed, but the jet's pilot survived. November 3 A twin-engine Yemen Airlines plane en route from Rome, Italy, to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, crashed in flames in the Apennine Mountains, killing all 8 persons aboard. November 9 A Portuguese flying boat en route from Lisbon, Portugal, to Madeira Island disappeared off the coast of Portugal; all 36 persons aboard were presumed dead. November 12 A U.S. Air Force KC-97 air refueling plane plunged in flames into a garden near Savannah, Georgia, killing all 11 crew members and badly burning a gardener. December 4 A Spanish four-engine airliner crashed in bad weather west of Madrid, Spain, killing all 21 persons aboard. FIRE
January 22 The explosion of railroad chemical tank cars in Niagara Falls, New York, injured 60 persons, about one-half of them children, and caused property damage estimated at $1,000,000. February 19 Six men were killed and 40 others injured when a furnace in a Chicago, Illinois, metal plant exploded. February 24 An ammunition train exploded near the India-Kashmire border, killing 25 persons. March 19 A gas oven exploded on the third floor of a loft building in New York City, New York, killing 24 employees and injuring 15. March 21 At least 16 persons died in Damat, Egypt, when an oven caught fire and the flames spread to the straw roof of a building where pigeons were perched. The wings of many of the pigeons caught fire and they spread the flames to other straw roofs in the village. March 23 Five department stores burned down in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, causing a loss of $8 million. April 5 An exploding heater caused a fire in Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, that killed 8 children and 2 adults. April 5 A forest fire near Adelaide, Australia, killed 8 persons. May 17 A gas explosion wrecked a seven-story building and killed 15 persons in Paris, France. May 22 A fire at an Anahim Indian reservation hospital and school in British Columbia, Canada, killed 13 children. May 24 A two-day fire at an oil refinery in Long Beach, California, caused the deaths of two persons and property damage estimated at moew than $15,000,000. June 23 Fireworks explosions at Santa Amaro and Feira De Santana, Brazil, killed 110 persons and injured 300 during celebrations of St. John's Day. July 19 An explosion at a hydroelectric project in Yugoslavia killed 30 persons and injured another 11. July 30 A fireworks explosion in Fuchu, Japan, killed 11 persons. August 2 An explosion in an ammunition dump near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, injured a reported 50 persons and caused property damage estimated at morethan $20,000,000. August 24 A kerosene lamp in a bookbinder's shop started a fire that engulfed 2,200 small stores and did an estimated $110 million damage in Bursa, Turkey. August25 A reported 20 persons were killed in an explosion of a fuel storage tank in Mourepiane, France. August 27 A firecracker factory exploded in central Formosa, killing 23 persons and injuring 13. November 8 A tenement fire in Montreal, Canada, killed 16 persons. December 14-16 Brush fires near San Juan Capistrano, California, burned more than 50,000 acres of watershed land. December 16 A fire broke out in a small department store crowded with shoppers in Bogotá, Colombia; 84 persons were killed and 50 were injured. December 31 A brush fire in Topanga Canyon, California, burned an estimated 80 homes. MARINE January 6 The Dutch coastal vessel Capella foundered in bad weather; 9 crewmen died. January 8 A fire in the Norwegian coastal vessel Erlingjarl blocked cabin exits causing panic and at least 14 deaths. January 26 The Japanese ferryboat Nankai Maru with 168 persons aboard sank during a storm. February 19 The Italian freighter Bonitas sank east of Cape Lookout, North Carolina. The ship's lifeboat was swamped as the crew tried to escape the vessel, with the loss of 22 crewmen; 5 crewmen were rescued. February 19 Iraq reported that 53 lives were lost when the British freighter Seistan exploded in Manama Harbor. March 1 The Turkish passenger ferry Usküdar sank in a squall. Of the estimated 400 persons aboard, 39 were rescued and 238 were known dead. March 16 An estimated 58 persons drowned when a ship sank off the coast of Java. March 22 The Greek coastal vessel Dodecanessos sank in the Aegean Sea during a hurricane; all 22 persons aboard were presumed drowned. April 17 An underwater explosion aboard a sunken U.S. munitions ship near Naha, Okinawa, killed 40 salvage workers. April 21 A motorboat sank off the coast of Colombia and its 13 occupants were lost. May 20 Twenty-one fishermen aboard three Korean fishing boats reported lost off Cheju Island, Korea, were missing and presumed drowned. June 16 Twenty-one fishing boats with an estimated 200 persons aboard sank in a storm off Oaxaca State, Mexico; all were presumed lost. July 10 A British ship with 52 persons aboard was reported missing in the Solomon Islands area; all aboard were presumed lost. July 21 A boat capsized near Kerala State, India, with a loss of 47 lives. August 7 The tankers Gulfoil and S.E. Graham collided in fog at Newport, Rhode Island; at least 16 seamen were killed, 2 were missing, and 35 were injured. September 27 The Portuguese coastal liner Arnel ran aground in the Azores and its lifeboat broke apart on rocks, taking the lives of 27 persons. October 5 A boat capsized on a flooded river in India; 48 were saved but 12 were drowned. October 12 An overloaded motor launch sank in heavy seas off the Philippines; 75 persons drowned. October 17 A Soviet trawler sank near the Shetland Islands with a reported loss of 22 seamen. October 20 The British oil tanker Stanvac Japan blew up in the Arabian Sea; 20 persons were killed and 50 others were rescued. October 20 Two Japanese ships, the Myoju Maru and the Komei Maru, sank; 43 of the 53 persons aboard the two ships were missing and presumed drowned. October 20 The 27 persons aboard the Argentine Navy picket boat Guarani were given up as lost at sea. November 18 The Carl D. Bradley, a 14,800-ton ship bound from Chicago, Illinois, to Rogers City, Michigan, broke in half during a gale and sank in northern Lake Michigan off Gull Island. The only two survivors of the 37-man crew were rescued from a raft on November 19. |
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