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Pan Am Flight 151

1951 aviation accident

Pan Am Flight 151

N88846, the aircraft involved in the accident, photographed at London-Heathrow airport
Accident
Date	June 22, 1951 (1951-06-22)
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	near Sanoyie, Bong County, Liberia
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-049 Constellation
Aircraft name	Clipper Great Republic
Operator	Pan Am World Airways
Registration	N88846
Flight origin	Johannesburg, Union of South Africa
1st stopover	Leopoldville, Belgian Congo
2nd stopover	Accra, Gold Coast
Last stopover	Monrovia, Liberia
Destination	New York City
Passengers	31
Crew	9
Fatalities	40
Injuries	0
Survivors	0

On June 22, 1951, Pan Am Flight 151, flown by the Lockheed L-049 Constellation propliner Clipper Great Republic (registration N88846^[1]) crashed into a West African hill at an elevation of 1,050 ft (320 m) near the village of Sanoyie^{[note 1]}inBong County, Liberia. All 31 passengers and nine crew on board were killed.

The Johannesburg to New York City flight was on the Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana), to Monrovia, Liberia leg of its journey. At 0301h during a pre-dawn approach to Monrovia's Robertsfield Airport, the flight crew reported to the tower that the radio beaconatDakar, Senegal was interfering with the Robertsfield radio beacon.^[2] After a 0315h weather report was sent to the pilots, all contact with the aircraft was lost. The flight was reported missing at 0410h on June 22, and an aerial search was conducted, but it was unsuccessful in locating the aircraft. At 1430h on June 23, a foot messenger arrived from the village of Sanoyie to report that an aircraft crashed into the side of a hill one day earlier several miles from the village and that everyone aboard was killed.

After a day's search, the『completely disintegrated remains of the Pan American World Airways plane that disappeared over West Africa Thursday night were found yesterday,』Harold R. Harris, vice president of the line said. Searchers from a Lutheran mission at Sanoye, Liberia, first located the shattered four-engine plane that had carried thirty-one passengers and a crew of nine. Later, Pan American officials in a company plane flew over the wreckage and identified it.

What was left of the big transport was found by the mission hunting party about four miles southwest of the village of Sanoye and about 45 miles north-northeast of Roberts Field. The plane had hit near the top of a 1,500-foot hill.

— The New York Times, June 24, 1951

It was determined that the location where the flight crashed was beyond the effective range of the Robertsfield beacon.^[2] This, combined with the report from the crew that the Dakar beacon was interfering with the Robertsfield beacon, resulted in the frequency of the Robertsfield beacon being changed to provide greater separation of frequencies between the two beacons.^[2] Investigation of the wreckage revealed no indications of mechanical malfunction, the aircraft had enough fuel for another eight hours of flight, the weight and disposition of the payload was within allowable limits, and the weather was above minima.

The Civil Aeronautics Board investigation concluded that the probable cause of the accident was the action of the captain in descending below his en route minimum altitude without positive identification of the flight's position.^[2]

• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
• Report from the Civil Aeronautics Board (Archive)

06°58′39″N 10°01′33″W / 6.97750°N 10.02583°W / 6.97750; -10.02583 (Pan Am Flight 151 accident site (approx.))