All Survived 1956 Boeing 377 Ditching In Pacific
While the story of US Airways Flight 1549's "Miracle on the
Hudson" has been reported in some general media as "unprecedented,"
it's really not. Aviation historians know it, and so do the
passengers of Pan Am Flight 943.
The San Francisco Chronicle recently interviewed the surviving
passengers in that 1956 incident... and while the circumstances
differed in many ways, many of the emotions may have been the
same.
The Boeing 377 Stratocruiser was a four-engine, pressurized
piston airliner. Despite its technical challenges and resulting low
production rate, the plane was popular among well-heeled travellers
for its trans-oceanic range and luxurious cabin. A Stratocruiser
flying at Pan Am Flight 943 was headed to San Francisco from Hawaii
on October 15, 1956, carrying a crew of six, 25 passengers and
their luggage.
At 3:30 am, over a remote area of the Pacific Ocean, two of the
plane's four engines shuddered to a stop. Unlike Captain Sully
Sullenberger, 42-year-old Pan Am Captain Richard Ogg still had
partial power. But it was clear that turning back or pressing on
both held high risks.
Ogg had been in contact with the US Coast Guard cutter
Pontchartrain, which served as a relay station for the HF radio
transmissions then in use by long-haul aircraft. Ogg decided that
the best hope for the survival of the souls onboard his aircraft
was to position and circle near the ship, burn off fuel, and make a
water landing after sun-up.
Unfortunately, on approach at 90 knots, one wing of the plane
clipped a swell about a mile from the Ponchartrain, spinning the
plane into the water. The ship's reported feeling the impact which
shattered the plane's nose and tore off the tail, and assuming no
one onboard could have survived.
But they did, every one... and when they arrived in San
Francisco aboard the Pontchartrain, they had stories similar to
those of the passengers of US Airways 1549, including a captain
with nerves of steel who walked the aisle twice to make sure
everyone was out before being rescued himself.
Unlike US Airways 1549, Pan Am 943 gave its passengers and crew
hours to anticipate their water landing, while 1549 was on the
water 121 seconds after the engines quit. Conversely, the Airbus
A320 floated for hours after landing, while the broken
Stratocruiser disappeared below the water just 21 minutes after
impact.
Pat Pimsner of San Carlos, CA remembers the 1956 ditching. She
was the purser on Flight 943. She tells the Chronicle she's still
proud of the competence and helpfulness of the passengers and crew
that day, and saw similar traits among those aboard Flight
1549.
After more than a half-century of reflection on the 1956 event,
she was asked what advice she'd offer the passengers who
experienced The Miracle on the Hudson. She laughed and said, "Don't
do it again."