Biak - Biak

On January 2, 1961 at 08:17 PM, Biak - Biak experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by Royal Netherlands Air Force - Koninklijke Luchtmacht, with the event recorded near Biak Special Region of Papua.

The flight was categorized as training and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

5 people were known to be on board, 5 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 5, crew fatalities: 5, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. The aircraft was involved in a night training mission and departed Biak-Boroekoe NAS at 1837LT. After practicing approach and landings, the crew had to activate light torches off the coast of Biak. The airplane flew along the coast line at an altitude of 3500-4000 feet. One of these torches activated inside the aircraft and an in-flight fire erupted. The crew attempted to carry out an emergency landing at sea but the airplane crashed. All five crew members were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration 079, MSN 16537/33285, year of manufacture 1945.