Flying Tiger Line Flight 739

Flying Tiger Line Flight 739

A Lockheed Constellation L-1049, similar to the aircraft involved
Accident
Date	March 16, 1962 (1962-03-16)
Summary	Disappearance, possible in-flight explosion
Site	Unknown Last known position: 13°40′N 140°0′E / 13.667°N 140.000°E / 13.667; 140.000
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed Constellation L-1049H
Operator	Flying Tiger Line
Registration	N6921C
Flight origin	Travis Air Force Base (SUU) California, U.S.
1st stopover	Honolulu (HNL)
2nd stopover	Wake Island Airfield (AWK)
3rd stopover	Guam (UAM)
Last stopover	Clark Air Base (CRK), Philippines
Destination	Saigon (SGN), South Vietnam
Occupants	107
Passengers	96
Crew	11
Fatalities	107 (presumed)
Survivors	0 (presumed)

Flying Tiger Line Flight 739 (FT739/FTL739) was a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation propliner that disappeared on March 16, 1962, over the western Pacific Ocean. The aircraft, which had been chartered by the United States Army, was transporting ninety-six military passengers from Travis Air Force Base in California to Tan Son Nhut International Airport in Saigon, South Vietnam. After refueling at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the Super Constellation disappeared while en route to Clark Air Base in the Philippines. All 107 aboard were declared missing and presumed dead.

The airliner's disappearance prompted one of the largest air and sea searches in the history of the Pacific. Aircraft and surface ships from four branches of the U.S. military searched more than 144,000 square miles (370,000 km²) during the course of eight days. A civilian tanker observed what appeared to be an in-flight explosion believed to be the missing Super Constellation, though no trace of wreckage or debris was ever recovered.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) determined that, based on the tanker's observations, Flight 739 probably exploded in-flight, though an exact cause could not be determined without examining the remnants of the aircraft. This was the deadliest single-aircraft aviation accident involving the Super Constellation.

It is the (presumed) second deadliest aircraft disappearance, behind Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.