Accident CL-44 in Da Nang

The CL-44D4-1 with the serial number 31 produced by Canadian company Canadair made its first flight on April 14, 1962 and received the registration number CF-OFH-X for the testing period. It was acquired by the US airline Seaboard World Airways (SWA), where after re-registering the aircraft on June 18 received the tail number N228SW . On September 30, 1963, the N228SW was leased by the British national airline British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). October 31, 1965 the plane returned to the SWA, and three days later was again leased, but this time the American Flying Tiger Line , where he worked until the crash for almost 14 months. The exact data on the operating time of the aircraft is unknown ^[1] .

The plane operated a cargo flight from Tatikawa ( Japan ) to Da Nang ( Republic of Vietnam ), and on board, in addition to military cargo, there was only a crew of four people. By Danang liner approached at 7 pm, already in the twilight. In addition, there was heavy rain in the region, and visibility was insufficient for a normal landing. However, the fuel on board was already very low, because of which the crew refused to leave the alternate aerodrome and began to land. Flying through the rain, the crew hoped to receive assistance from the radar at the airport. But at 7:15 pm, one and a half kilometers from the airport, the CL-44 caught the tops of the trees, after which, having lost speed, fell to the ground and, rushing along it for 270 meters, completely collapsed and burned. All 4 people on board died. In addition, after rushing nearly three hundred meters on the ground, the car also demolished 66 thatched huts, killing 107 local residents. Thus, a total of 111 people died in the disaster ^{[1] [2]} . In some sources, including the base of the National Council on Transport Safety , the scene of the incident is indicated under the old name Da Nang - Turan ( fr. Tourane ) ^[3] .

At that time, it was the largest air crash in Vietnam , currently the third (after the crashes in Khamdyk and near Tan Son Nhat , 155 dead each). Nevertheless, the disaster near Da Nang remains the largest airline in the history of the Flying Tiger Line , and is also the first and largest catastrophe in the history of the Canadair CL-44 ^[4] .

The investigation was carried out by the Vietnamese commission, which concluded that the disaster was caused by the error of the American crew, who did not follow the height at the final landing stage ^[3] . There were also versions that the plane lost its height due to a wind shear hit, or that it was shot down, but these options did not find confirmation ^[1] .