McChord - Cold Bay

On August 26, 1970 at 12:00 AM, McChord - Cold Bay experienced a crash involving Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, operated by United States Air Force - USAF, with the event recorded near Mt Pavlof Alaska.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

7 people were known to be on board, 7 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

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

The listed crash cause is human factor. In limited visibility, the crew started the descent to Cold Bay when the four engine aircraft struck the slope of the Pavlof Volcano located 36 miles northeast of Cold Bay. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all seven crew members were killed. The airplane was inbound from McChord AFB, carrying seven tons of satellite observation equipment for use with the Optical Satellite Observing System. It is believed that the crew started the descent prematurely.

Aircraft reference details include registration 52-1049, MSN 43958, year of manufacture 1952.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 55.4170°, -161.8932°.