Dick "The Shadow" Belfatti's car, in the foreground, after tangling with Garlits' Swamp Rat at Vargo Dragway (Pa.) in 1963.
Date: Friday 8 November 1957 Time: 01:27 Type: Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 10-29 Operator: Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) Registration: N90944 MSN: 15960/40 First flight: 1949-08-30 (8 years 2 months) Engines: 4 Pratt & Whitney R-4360-B6 Crew: Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8 Passengers: Fatalities: 36 / Occupants: 36 Total: Fatalities: 44 / Occupants: 44 Aircraft damage: Destroyed Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair) Location: 1500 km (937.5 mls) E of Honolulu, HI ( Pacific Ocean) Phase: En route (ENR) Nature: Domestic Scheduled Passenger Departure airport: San Francisco International Airport, CA (SFO/KSFO), United States of America Destination airport: Honolulu International Airport, HI (HNL/PHNL), United States of America Flightnumber: PA7 Narrative: Boeing 377 Stratocruiser "Clipper Romance of the Skies" carried out a round-the-world flight originating in San Francisco, first stop being Honolulu. The aircraft departed San Francisco at 19:51 GMT for a 10-hour flight. Latest position report over the Pacific was at 01:04. Some days later, on 14 November, the US Navy carrier "Philippine Sea" located bodies and parts of wreckage some 940 miles east of Honolulu and 90 miles North of the intended track. The remains of 19 victims were recovered. Probable Cause: PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Board has insufficient tangible evidence at this time to determine the cause of the accident. Further research and investigation is in process concerning the significance of evidence of carbon monoxide in body tissue of the aircraft occupants."
The Jalopy Journal
