Charleston – Hamilton – Horta – Lisbon – Tripoli – Dhahran

On December 31, 1956 at 04:00 AM, Charleston – Hamilton – Horta – Lisbon – Tripoli – Dhahran experienced a crash involving Lockheed C-121 Super Constellation, operated by United States Air Force - USAF, with the event recorded near Dhahran ash-Sharqiyah (<U+0627><U+0644><U+0634><U+0631><U+0642><U+064A><U+0629><U+200E>).

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

38 people were known to be on board, 12 fatalities were recorded, 26 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 31.6%.

Crew on board: 7, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 31, passenger fatalities: 12, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The four engine aircraft was performing a flight from Charleston to Dhahran, carrying high ranking officers from the US, Pakistan and Iranian Army. The approach to Dhahran was completed by night and marginal weather conditions. Just past midnight, the aircraft struck the ground and crashed one km short of runway. Twelve occupants were killed while 26 others were injured. The aircraft was destroyed. At the time of the accident, there were scattered clouds with limited visibility. Six minutes prior to the accident, the visibility was estimated to three km with a northwest wind at 5 knots.

Aircraft reference details include registration 54-0165, MSN 4184, year of manufacture 1954.