Flying Tiger Line Flight 45
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 A DC-8-63F of Flying Tigers, similar to the one involved in the accident | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | July 27, 1970 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain in low visibility |
| Site | |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-8-63F |
| Operator | Flying Tiger Line |
| IATA flight No. | FT45 |
| ICAO flight No. | FTL45 |
| Call sign | TIGER 45 |
| Registration | N785FT |
| Flight origin | Los Angeles International Airport, Westchester, Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Stopover | San Francisco International Airport, San Mateo County, California, United States |
| 1st stopover | Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, SeaTac, Washington, United States |
| 2nd stopover | Cold Bay Airport, Cold Bay, Alaska, United States |
| 3rd stopover | Haneda Airport, Ōta, Tokyo, Japan |
| 4th stopover | Naha Air Force Base, Okinawa |
| 5th stopover | Kai Tak Airport, British Hong Kong |
| Last stopover | Cam Ranh Bay Air Force Base, Khánh Hòa, South Vietnam |
| Destination | Da Nang Air Base, Da Nang, South Vietnam |
| Occupants | 4 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 4 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Flying Tiger Line Flight 45 was a regularly scheduled cargo flight by Flying Tiger Line from Los Angeles to Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam, with intermediate stops at San Francisco, Seattle, Cold Bay, Tokyo, Naha, Hong Kong, and Cam Ranh.[1] On July 27, 1970, the flight, a Douglas DC-8-63F, crashed on final approach as it was trying to make its 4th stopover at Naha Airport (then Naha Air Base) in Okinawa, which was under US administration at the time.
The aircraft involved was a Douglas DC-8-63F registered as N785FT with serial number 46005. It was manufactured in 1968 and purchased by Flying Tiger Line on November 19. It had logged 6047.2 airframe hours and was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT3D-7 engines, each generating about 19,000 pounds of thrust.[2][3][4]: 27