Douglas C - 54 Skymaster The Douglas C - 54 Skymaster was a four - engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War . Like the Douglas C - 47 Skytrain , the C - 54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian airliner ( the Douglas DC - 4 ) . Besides transport of cargo , the C - 54 also carried presidents , prime ministers and military staff . Dozens of variants of the C - 54 were employed in a wide variety of non - combat roles such as air - sea rescue , scientific and military research and missile tracking and recovery . During the Berlin Airlift it hauled coal and food supplies to West Berlin . After the Korean War it continued to be used for military and civilian uses by more than 30 countries . This was one of the first aircraft to carry the President of the United States and to assume the call sign " Air Force One " . Operational history . C - 54s began service with the US Army Air Forces in 1942 , carrying up to 26 passengers . ( Later versions carried up to 50 passengers . ) The U . S . Navy also acquired the type , under the designation R5D . The C - 54 was one of the most commonly used long - range transports by the U . S . armed forces in World War II . Of the C - 54s produced , 515 were manufactured in Santa Monica , California and 655 were manufactured at Orchard Place / Douglas Field , in unincorporated Cook County , Illinois , near Chicago ( later the site of O ' Hare International Airport ) . After World War II , the C - 54 continued to serve as the primary airlifter of the new United States Air Force and with the United States Navy . In late 1945 , several hundred C - 54s were surplus to U . S . military requirements and these were converted for civil airline operation , many by Douglas Aircraft at its aircraft plants . The aircraft were sold to airlines around the world . By January 1946 , Pan American Airways was operating their Skymasters on transatlantic scheduled services to Europe and beyond . Trans - Pacific schedules from San Francisco to Auckland began on 6 June 1946 . President Harry S . Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 , which created the U . S . Air Force , on board " Sacred Cow " , the Presidential C - 54 which is preserved at the National Museum of the United States Air Force . More than 300 C - 54s and R5Ds formed the backbone of the US contribution to the Berlin Airlift in 1948 . They also served as the main airlift during the Korean War . After the Korean War , the C - 54 was replaced by the Douglas C - 124 Globemaster II , but continued to be used by the U . S . Air Force until 1972 . During World War II , the C - 54 was used by Franklin D . Roosevelt , Douglas MacArthur and Winston Churchill . The American delegates to the Casablanca Conference used the Skymaster . The C - 54 was also used by the Royal Air Force , the Armée de l ' Air and the armed forces of at least 12 other nations . The last active C - 54 Skymaster in U . S . Navy service ( C - 54Q , BuNo " 56501 " , of the Navy Test Pilot School , NAS Patuxent River ) was retired on 2 April 1974 . After disposal by the United States Air Force and US Navy , many C - 54s were modified for use in the civilian fire - fighting and air tanker roles . This included fitting tanks inside and under the fuselage and the fitment of dumping and spraying equipment including on the trailing wing edges . C - 54s continued in this role until the late 1990s . Accidents and incidents . Disappearance ( 1950 ) . On 26 January 1950 , a C - 54D operated by the United States Air Force disappeared during a flight between Anchorage - Elmendorf Air Force Base ( Alaska ) and Great Falls - Malmstrom Air Force Base ( Montana ) with a crew of 8 and 36 passengers ( 34 service personnel and two civilians ) . No trace of the aircraft or its occupants have ever been found . Berlin corridor attack ( 1952 ) . On 29 April 1952 , an Air France Douglas C - 54A ( registration F - BELI ) operating a scheduled service from Frankfurt Rhein - Main Airport to Berlin Tempelhof Airport came under sustained attack from two Soviet MiG 15 fighters while passing through one of the Allied air corridors over East Germany . Although the attack had severely damaged the aircraft , necessitating the shutdown of engines number three and four , the pilot in command of the aircraft managed to carry out a safe emergency landing at Tempelhof Airport . A subsequent inspection of the aircraft ' s damage revealed that it had been hit by 89 shots fired from the Soviet MiGs . There were no fatalities among the 17 occupants ( six crew , 11 passengers ) despite the severity of the attack . The Soviet military authorities defended this attack on an unarmed civilian aircraft by claiming the Air France plane was outside the air corridor at the time of attack . Shoot down ( 1954 ) . On 23 July 1954 , a Douglas C - 54 Skymaster civilian airliner , registration VR - HEU , operated by Cathay Pacific Airways , en route from Bangkok to Hong Kong , was shot down by Chinese Communist La - 9 fighters off the coast of Hainan Island , killing 10 . Disappearance ( 1964 ) . On 28 March 1964 , a C - 54A disappeared over the Pacific ( about 1120 km west of San Francisco — last reported position : ) on an executive passenger flight from Honolulu International Airport , Hawaii to Los Angeles International Airport , California . The pilot reported a fire in No . 2 engine , which might make it necessary to ditch . Nothing more was heard from the aircraft , nor was any trace of it found despite an extensive search . Three crew and six passengers died in the accident . Notable appearances in media . A C - 54 , registration C - FIQM ( Buffalo 5 - 721 ( tail 57 ) ) , was used as a substitute Lancaster bomber due to its similar top speed and maximum payload , for a recreation of Operation Chastise with its bouncing bomb . It was filmed in the UK documentary " Dambusters : Building the Bouncing Bomb " , Canadian documentary " Dambusters Fly Again " , " Nova " season 39 episode " Bombing Hitler ' s Dams " , and " Ice Pilots NWT " season 3 episode 2 " Dambusters " .