No survivors have been found after a vintage airplane from the 1940s overturned and caught fire outside Fairbanks, Alaska. Photo: Michaela Matherne / AP / NTB
Of NTB | 24.04.2024 00:40:27
Accidents and natural disasters: The plane took off from Fairbanks International Airport on Tuesday morning and flew just over a mile before crashing into the Tanana River. Police say the plane hit a steep hill on the river bank and caught fire.
There were two people on board the plane, which police describe as a Douglas C-54 Skymaster, a military transport plane from the 1940s. The FAA has described the aircraft as a DC-4, the civilian version of the C-54.
The aircraft type is a further development from a prototype made in 1938, and around 1,200 examples were built between 1942 and 1947. C-54 aircraft were used during World War II and in the Korean War, and also played an important role in the airlift to Berlin that supplied the metropolis with coal and food during a Soviet blockade in 1948–49.
As a civilian airliner, the DC-4 had a standard layout with 44 passenger seats.
There are only a few examples of the aircraft type left today.
(© NTB)