1955 Hawaii R6D - 1 crash The 1955 Hawaii R6D - 1 crash was an accident involving a Douglas R6D - 1 Liftmaster of the United States Navy which crashed into a mountain peak in Hawaii on 22 March 1955 , killing all 66 people on board . At the time , it was the worst crash involving any variant of the Douglas DC - 6 airliner the second - worst aviation accident in U . S . history , and one of the worst air accidents anywhere in history , and it equalled the 6 October United Airlines Flight 409 crash as the deadliest air accident of 1955 . It remains the worst air disaster in the history of Hawaii and the deadliest accident involving a heavier - than - air aircraft in the history of United States naval aviation . Aircraft . The R6D - 1 involved , Bureau Number 131612 , had been manufactured in 1953 and was based at Moffett Field , California . The R6D - 1 was the U . S . Navy version of the United States Air Force s C - 118 Liftmaster and of the civilian Douglas DC - 6B airliner . Flight history . The R6D - 1 was carrying a U . S . Navy crew of nine and was loaded to capacity with 57 passengers on a Military Air Transport Service flight from Tokyo , Japan , to Travis Air Force Base , California , via Hickam Air Force Base , Territory of Hawaii . The passengers included 55 servicemen – 17 U . S . Air Force , 22 United States Army , 12 United States Marine Corps , and four U . S . Navy personnel – and two civilians , who were the wife and three - year - old daughter of one of the military passengers . After making its stop at Hickam , the aircraft took off at 6 : 06 p . m . local time on 21 March 1955 for the final leg of its flight to California . The crew began to experience radio problems , and four hours and 20 minutes after departure they decided to return to Hickam . The R6D - 1 was flying in a heavy rainstorm as it descended to land at Hickam early on 22 March 1955 . At 2 : 03 a . m . local time while on its descent , the aircraft flew into 3 , 098 - foot ( 944 - meter ) Pali Kea Peak at the southern end of Oahus Waianae Range , 15 miles ( 24 km ) northwest of Honolulu . Eyewitnesses reported that the pilot turned his landing lights on just before striking the mountain and , presumably seeing the mountain ahead , banked sharply to avoid it . The maneuver was too late , and the R6D - 1 struck a sheer cliff about 200 feet ( 61 meters ) below the tip of the peak and exploded . The explosion was loud enough to sound like a thunderclap to witnesses five miles ( 8 km ) away . During the impact , the wings separated from the aircrafts fuselage , which already was ablaze as it fell in one piece to the bottom of a gully at a point about 2 , 000 yards ( 1 , 829 meters ) from the Lualualei Naval Ammunition Magazine and burned . Witnesses reported that the fire was large enough to redden the night sky for over two hours , and remained hot enough that rescuers were unable to approach the wreckage for several hours . No survivors were found . The accident was the first of two major air disasters involving an R6D - 1 in less than 19 months , the second being the disappearance of an R6D - 1 over the Atlantic Ocean in October 1956 . Investigation . The post - crash investigation concluded that the R6D - 1s crew had made a navigational error which placed the aircraft 8 miles ( 13 km ) off course . Straying into the Waianae Range in darkness without realizing their error until almost the last second , the crew flew the aircraft into the peak .