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 equaled the 11 August mid-air collision of two United States Air Force C-119G Flying Boxcars over West Germany and the 6 October United Air Lines 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.
A U.S. Navy R6D-1 Liftmaster, similar to the accident aircraft, operating for the Military Air Transportation Service in the 1950s
Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged in 2010 with Naval Station Pearl Harbor to become part of the newly formed Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, on the island of Oʻahu in the State of Hawaiʻi. The base neighbors Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and currently shares runways with the airport for its activities and operations.
The historic base operations building (DV1)
C-17A Globemaster III of the 15th Wing at Hickam AFB in 2008
Hickam Field, 1940. Pearl Harbor Navy Yard is in the upper left corner and the main barracks is immediately left of the eight hangars in the center.
Boeing B-17D Fortresses of the 5th Bombardment Group overfly the main gate at Hickam Field, Hawaii Territory during the summer of 1941. 21 B-17C/Ds had flown to Hawaii in May to reinforce the islands' defense.