The Lockheed Constellation ("Connie") was a propeller-driven airliner powered by four 18-cylinder radial Wright R-3350 engines. It was built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, US, facility. A total of 856 aircraft were produced in four models, all distinguished by a triple-tail design and dolphin-shaped fuselage. The Constellation was used as a civilian airliner and as a U.S. military air transport, seeing service in the Berlin Airlift. It was the presidential aircraft for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Accidents and incidents Like every other major type in long service and operation, accidents and incidents have been recorded that have substantially reduced the numbers flying. The following list is typical of such a record of operational use. The fatalities listed below only include those who were on board Lockheed Constellations.

1943–1949

Date Type Call sign Flight Fatalities Info C-69 42-94551 None Aircraft was damaged beyond repair after a wheels up landing following engine problems at Topeka, Kansas, United States. C-69 43-10314 None Aircraft was damaged beyond repair after ditching in the Mediterranean Sea; the War Assets Administration aircraft was sold to the French government for parts and given the temporary registration of F-BECA and used to repair Air France L-749 c/n 2512 after it was damaged by fire in 1949 and BOAC L-049 Constellation c/n 1980 after a 1951 accident. L-049 NC86510 TWA Flight 955 None Ran off the runway on landing at National Airport, Washington, DC due to crew error; all 12 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off. L-049 NC88858 Pan Am Flight 100 None Belly landed at Willimantic, Connecticut after a failure and fire in the number four engine; all 52 on board survived. The aircraft was repaired and returned to service, but was lost in the crash of Pan Am Flight 1-10 in 1948. L-049 NC86513 TWA Flight 513 Crashed near Reading, Pennsylvania after an in-flight fire, killing five of the six crew on board. L-049 NC88831 None Crashed on landing at Shannon Airport after the landing gear was raised in mistake for the flaps; all 36 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off. L-049 NC86512 None Ran off the runway on landing at New Castle County Airport due to pilot error. The airplane was being ferried from New York to Wilmington with eight crew on board of whom all survived. The aircraft was written off. L-049 NC86505 TWA Flight 6963 Crashed while attempting to land at Shannon Airport, Ireland due to altimeter failure. Nine of the 23 people on board were killed. TWA Constellation "Star of Hollywood" experienced sudden decompression during a transatlantic flight from New York City to Geneva, Switzerland. The aircraft had stopped at Gander to refuel and take on passengers and crew; it was 500 miles into the leg to Shannon, Ireland, at an altitude of 19,000 ft. when the astrodome (a clear plastic bubble on the top of the fuselage) shattered. Navigator George Hart, who was under the astrodome making a sextant measurement at the time, was sucked out of the aircraft over the North Atlantic. The aircraft returned to Gander and passengers continued the flight on a replacement aircraft. Within a few weeks, TWA responded to the accident by equipping navigators on transatlantic flights with a safety harness; on aircraft used for domestic flights, a 1/4-inch aluminum plate was installed under the astrodome (only transatlantic flights used the astrodome for navigation). L-049 NC86508 Crashed near the Brandywine Shoal lighthouse, Cape May, New Jersey, at 8:45 a.m. EST while conducting practice emergency landing procedures, killing Capt. Patrick McKeirnan and the three remaining crew on board. The cause was traced to an unexplained loss of control. L-049 NC88845 Pan Am Flight 121 Crashed near Mayadin, Syria on a flight originating in New York and making its inaugural westbound flight of round-the-world service. The aircraft's No. 1 engine failed halfway on a leg from Karachi to Istanbul. Due to closed airports and inadequate repair facilities, the pilot chose to continue to its destination. Several hours later, the remaining engines overheated and the No. 2 engine caught fire and ultimately separated from the aircraft, necessitating a crash landing near Habbaniya RAF Station on Iraq/Syria border at about 01:40L. Probable cause of the accident was a fire which resulted from an attempt to feather the No. 2 (port inboard) propeller after the failure of the No. 2 engine thrust bearing. Gene Roddenberry (creator of Star Trek) was a deadheading Pan Am pilot aboard who helped rescue many of the passengers. Fifteen of the 36 people on board were killed. L-049 NC86507 Crashed short of the runway at New Castle County (Delaware USA) Airport during a training flight due to pilot error, killing the five crew. L-649 NC111A EAL Flight 604 None Crashed on landing at Logan International Airport due to snow on the runway; all 25 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off. L-649 NC112A EAL Flight 611 Suffered a failure of the number three propeller and blade separation in the Atlantic 156 mi off Brunswick, Georgia three hours after takeoff. A portion of the blade penetrated the fuselage, severing engine controls, electrical wires and control cables as well as killing a crew member when the blade cut through the floor. The front portion of the number three engine later fell off. Despite a loss of control of one engine and a complete loss of another, the aircraft was able to land safely at West Palm Beach Airport. Although the aircraft was substantially damaged, it was repaired, rebuilt to L-749A standard and returned to service, but was written off after a 1955 crash. The cause of the incident was the failure of the number three propeller caused by high stress brought on by repetitive engine malfunctioning. L-049 NC88858 Pan Am Flight 1-10 Crashed attempting to land at Shannon Airport, Ireland. Thirty of the 31 people on board were killed. L-049 PH-TEN Crashed near Prestwick Airport, Scotland, killing all 40 passengers and crew on board. The aircraft was circling below low cloud for a visual approach to Prestwick and hit high tension powerlines that were not on the Dutch visual approach map the crew had been issued. L-049 NC90824 TWA Flight 211 None Crashed on landing at Los Angeles Municipal Airport due to poor visibility; all 23 on board survived, but the aircraft was written off. L-749 NC86530 Pan Am Flight 100 None Collided with a private Cessna 140 over Port Washington, New York; the Cessna crashed, killing both pilots on board; the Constellation landed safely with no casualties. L-749 PH-TER Crashed off Bari, Italy due to a loss of control and in-flight breakup, killing all 33 passengers and crew on board. L-749 PH-TDF Crashed near Bombay, India due to pilot errors, killing all 45 passengers and crew on board. L-749 F-BAZN Air France Flight 009 Crashed into Pico da Vara (São Miguel Island, Azores), all 11 crew members and 37 passengers on board died, including French boxer Marcel Cerdan and the famous French violinist Ginette Neveu, while approaching the intermediate stop airport at Santa Maria. L-049 NC86501 TWA Flight 154 None Ran off the runway while landing at Midway Airport due to pilot error; all 31 on board survived. The aircraft was extensively damaged in the crash, but was repaired and returned to service.

1950–1959