Civil Air Transport Flight 106 was a Curtiss C-46D Commando, registration number B-908 (C/N 32950),"Ci – Cz"
Airplane Crash Info. that was operated by

Civil Air Transport Civil Air Transport (CAT) was a Nationalist Chinese airline, later owned by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), that supported United States covert operations throughout East and Southeast Asia. During the Cold War, missions consisted in ...

, which was a front company operated by the CIA. On 20 June 1964, the aircraft crashed near the village of Shenkang, western Taiwan, killing all 57 people aboard.

The accident

Shortly after take-off from Taichung, the number one engine oversped. The pilot began a left turn to perform an emergency landing at the airport or a nearby military air base. But while turning, the pilot lost control and the aircraft crashed in a left wing low and a steep nose down attitude.

The aircraft

The flight was being operated by a C-46D, which had accumulated 19,488 operational hours from 1944 to 1964.

Causes

The primary cause of the accident was the failure of the #1 engine, compounded by

pilot error Pilot error generally refers to an Aviation accidents and incidents, accident in which an action or decision made by the Aircraft pilot#Airline, pilot was the cause or a contributing factor that led to the accident, but also includes the pi ...

during attempts at recovery while returning to

Taichung Airport Taichung International Airport () , is an international airport located in Taichung, Taiwan, which is used for both commercial and military purposes. It is also the third international airport in Taiwan, with scheduled services to China, Ho ...

.1964
Airplane Crash Info.

Passengers

Among the dead were 20 Americans, one Briton, and members of the Malaysian delegation to the 11th Film Festival in Asia, including businessman

Loke Wan Tho Tan Sri Loke Wan Tho (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: ''Lu̍k Yun-thàu''; 14 June 1915 – 20 June 1964) was a Malaysian-Singaporean business magnate, ornithologist, and photographer. He was the founder of Cathay Organisation in Singapore and Malaysia, ...

and his wife Mavis.

References

Aviation accidents and incidents in Taiwan Aviation accidents and incidents in 1964 Accidents and incidents involving the Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando Civil Air Transport accidents and incidents June 1964 events in Asia 1964 in Taiwan 1964 disasters in Taiwan Aircraft hijackings {{aviation-accident-stub