Flying Tiger Line Flight 7815/13 was a chartered flight for the Military Air Transport Service (M.A.T.S. Flight 739/14), from Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, California, to Saigon, Republic of Vietnam, with scheduled refueling stops at Honolulu, Hawaii; Wake Island; Naval Air Station Agana, Guam; and Clark Air Force Base, Luzon, Philippine Islands. The aircraft was a Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation, N6921C, under the command of Captain Gregory P. Thomas.
The flight crew consisted of three pilots, two flight engineers, and two navigators/radio operators. Additionally there were four stewardesses with 96 passengers, three of whom were Vietnamese military personnel, while the remainder were U.S. Army electronics and communications specialists.
FTL 739 departed Guam for Luzon at 1257 G.M.T, 15 March and climbed to 18,000 feet. The estimated flight time for this leg was 6 hours, 19 minutes, with sufficient fuel for 9 hours, 30 minutes of flight. Somewhere after the first radio position report, 8 minutes after departure, the aircraft and its 107 occupants completely disappeared, a mystery that remains to this day.
FTL 739 departed Guam for Luzon at 1257 G.M.T, 15 March and climbed to 18,000 feet. The estimated flight time for this leg was 6 hours, 19 minutes, with sufficient fuel for 9 hours, 30 minutes of flight. Somewhere after the first radio position report, 8 minutes after departure, the aircraft and its 107 occupants completely disappeared, a mystery that remains to this day.
The airliner’s disappearance prompted one of the largest air and sea searches in the history of the Pacific. Aircraft and surface ships from four branches of the US military searched more than 144,000 square miles during the course of eight days. A civilian tanker observed what appeared to be an in-flight explosion believed to be the missing Super Constellation, though no trace of wreckage or debris was ever recovered.
Much more can be read about the this flight, the crew, and the suggestions of sabotage by visiting the following:
This Day In Aviation 15 March 1962 Wikipedia – Flying Tiger Line Flight 739
Very little is still known about what happened to FTL 739 due to the circumstances surrounding this mission, the names of those lost have not yet been added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. However, today many families and loved ones of these heroes still fight to have their loved ones recognized for their contributions to our freedom and our shared history. Presently, the only monument that bears the names of these American heroes was erected by a private citizen, Wreaths Across America founder Morrill Worcester, on his balsam tip land in Columbia Falls, ME.
Click on image of monument above to learn more about Wreaths Across America and their dedication to Flying Tigers 739