- Pan Am Flight 151
Infobox Airliner accident|name=Pan Am Flight 151
Date=June 22 1951
Type=Controlled flight into terrain
Site=Monrovia, Liberia
Fatalities=40
Injuries=0
Aircraft Type=Lockheed L-049 Constellation
Operator=Pan Am
Tail Number=N88846
Ship name="Clipper Republic"
Passengers=31
Crew=9
Survivors = 0Pan Am Flight 151, a Lockheed L-049 Constellation (registration airreg|N|88846|disaster) named the "Clipper Great Republic" en route from
Accra, Ghana , toMonrovia, Liberia , crashed on approach into a hill at an elevation of 1050 feet near near a village called Sanoye inBong County in Liberia, 54 miles (86km) from Roberts Field on June 22, 1951. There were no survivors amongst the 31 passengers and nine crew members.ummary
The flight crew reported to Roberts Field that the radio beacon at Dakar was interfering with the radio beacon at Roberts Field in Monrovia. [ [http://dotlibrary1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?file&fn=8&name=*P%3A%5CDOT%5Cairplane%20accidents%5Cwebsearch%5C062251.pdf Accident Investigation Report] (PDF), U.S. Department of Transportation Library.] After the flight was reported missing at 0410h on June 22, an aerial search was conducted but was unsuccessful in locating the aircraft. At 1430h on June 23, a foot messenger arrived from the village of Sanoye to report that an aircraft crashed into the side of a hill one day earlier about 2.4 miles from the village and that everyone aboard was killed.
It was determined that the location where the flight crashed was beyond the effective range of the Roberts Field beacon. This combined with the report from the crew that the Dakar beacon was interferring with the Roberts Field beacon, the frequency of the Roberts Field beacon was changed to provide greater separation of frequencies between the two beacons. [ [http://www.avsaf.org/reports/US/1951.06.22_PanAmericanWorldAirways_LockheedConstellationL-049.pdf Accident Investigation Report] (PDF), Aviation Safety (AVSAF).] Investigation of the wreckage revealed no indications of mechanical malfunction, the aircraft had enough fuel for another eight hours of flight, the weight and disposition of the payload was within allowable limits, and the weather was above minimums.
Cause
The
Civil Aeronautics Board investigation concluded that the probable cause of the accident was the action of the captain in descending below his en route minimum altitude without positive identification of the flight's position.References
External links
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19510622-0&lang=en Aircraft accident description] Aviation Safety Network
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