Roi-Namur - Kwajalein

On June 28, 1977 at 08:30 AM, Roi-Namur - Kwajalein experienced a crash involving Douglas C-54 Skymaster, operated by United States Army, with the event recorded near Roi-Namur All Marshall Islands.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

16 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 16 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 12, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The crew was engaged in a short positioning flight from Roi-Namur Airport (north part of the Kwajalein atoll) to the main airport of Kwajalein located on the south part of the same atoll. During the takeoff roll on runway 04, the captain decided to abort for unknown reason. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the aircraft overran and came to rest into the sea. The left wing was broken in two and the aircraft was later removed from water but declared as damaged beyond repair. There were no injuries among the 16 occupants. Special thanks to US Army Louis D. Sutton, PIC on the following US Army C-54 that should takeoff immediately after the accident one, for his testimony.

Aircraft reference details include registration 42-72650, MSN 10755, year of manufacture 1945.