Topham - Topham

On April 26, 1962 at 12:13 PM, Topham - Topham experienced a crash involving Lockheed L-749 Constellation, operated by Federal Aviation Administration - FAA, with the event recorded near Topham, Canton Island All Kiribati.

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

6 people were known to be on board, 5 fatalities were recorded, 1 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 83.3%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 4, passengers on board: 2, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. A Lockheed Constellation, Model L-749A, N 116A, owned by the United States Government and operated by the Federal Aviation Agency, crashed following a local training flight at Topham Field, Canton Island, April 26, 1962, at 1213 local time. All four FAA crew members were fatally injured. One of the two passengers, not an FAA employee, was also fatally injured. The other, an FAA physician, was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The purpose of the flight was to train the copilot in various maneuvers and flight configurations prior to being tested for an Airline Transport Pilot Rating, and to train a flight maintenance technician as a flight engineer.

Aircraft reference details include registration N116A, MSN 2611, year of manufacture 1949.