The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensive modifications to fix a design defect, no more were ordered. With its unique high power-to-weight ratio, huge propellers and very short wings (resulting in the majority of the wingspan being enveloped in propwash), large

Fowler flaps A flap is a high-lift device used to reduce the stalling speed of an aircraft wing at a given weight. Flaps are usually mounted on the wing trailing edges of a fixed-wing aircraft. Flaps are used to reduce the take-off distance and the landing ...

which significantly increased effective wing area when extended, and four-engined design, the airplane had airfield performance capabilities unmatched by many jet transport aircraft even today—particularly on short runways and high field elevations. Jet airliners soon supplanted

turboprops A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. F ...

for many purposes, and many Electras were modified as freighters. Some Electras are still being used in various roles into the 21st century. The airframe was also used as the basis for the

Lockheed P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The following year, American Airlines revised its requirement to a four-engine design for 75 passengers with range. Lockheed proposed a new design, the CL-310 with a low wing and four

Rolls-Royce Dart The Rolls-Royce RB.53 Dart is a turboprop engine designed and manufactured by Rolls-Royce Limited. First run in 1946, it powered the Vickers Viscount on its maiden flight in 1948. A flight on July 29 of that year, which carried 14 paying passe ...

s or

Napier Eland The Napier Eland was a British turboshaft or turboprop gas-turbine engine built by Napier & Son in the early 1950s. Production of the Eland ceased in 1961 when the Napier company was taken over by Rolls-Royce. Design and development The Eland ...

s. The CL-310 design met the American Airlines requirements, but failed to meet those of another interested carrier,

Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

. Its requirements were for a longer range, a minimum cruising speed of , and increased seating capacity to the 85-to-90-passenger level. Lockheed redesigned the CL-310 to use the Allison 501-D13 turboprop engine, a civilian version of the T56 developed for the

Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...

military transport. The airframe was stretched to allow for more seats and handle the increased performance. This design was launched as the Model 188 with an order for 35 by American Airlines on June 8, 1955. This was followed by Eastern Air Lines with an order for 40 on September 27, 1955. The first aircraft took 26 months to complete, and by that time Lockheed had orders for 129. The prototype, a Model 188A, first flew on December 6, 1957, two months ahead of schedule. Lockheed was awarded a

type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). It confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production, is in compliance with applica ...

by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) on 22 August 1958. The first delivery – to Eastern Air Lines – was on October 8, 1958, but it did not enter service until January 12, 1959. Lockheed L188C PH-LLK KLM MAN 23

NWT Air Lockheed Electra at Vancouver Airport in August 1983

Lockheed L-188 Electra (TAN Airlines 1970)

In 1957, the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

issued a requirement for an advanced

maritime patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over water in maritime patrol roles ...

. Lockheed proposed a development of the Electra that was later placed into production as the P-3 Orion, which had much greater success — the Orion has been in continual front-line service for more than 50 years.

Design

The Model 188 Electra is a low-wing cantilever

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

and a

conventional tail A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...

. It has a cockpit crew of three and can carry 66 to 80 passengers in a mixed-class arrangement, although 98 could be carried in a high-density layout. The first variant was the Model 188A, followed by the longer-range 188C with room for more fuel and

maximum take-off weight The maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) or maximum gross takeoff weight (MGTOW) or maximum takeoff mass (MTOM) of an aircraft is the maximum weight at which the pilot is allowed to attempt to takeoff, take off, due to structural or other limits. The a ...

higher.

Operational history

Civilian operations

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

was the launch customer.

Braniff Airways Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...

, and

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

followed. The Electra suffered a troubled start. Passengers of early aircraft complained of noise in the cabin forward of the wings, caused by propeller resonance. Lockheed redesigned the

engine nacelle A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...

s, tilting the engines upwards 3°. The changes were incorporated on the production line by mid-1959 or as modification kits for the aircraft already built, and resulted in improved performance and a better ride for passengers. Three aircraft were lost in fatal accidents between February 1959 and March 1960. After the third crash, the FAA limited the Electra's speed until the cause could be determined. After an extensive investigation, two of the crashes (in September 1959 and March 1960) were found to be caused by an engine-mount problem. The mounting of the gearbox cracked, the reduced rigidity enabled a phenomenon called "whirl mode flutter" (analogous to the precession of a child's top as it slows down, an interaction of propellers with airflow) that affected the outboard engine nacelles. When the oscillation was transmitted to the wings and the flutter frequency decreased to a point where it was

resonant Resonance describes the phenomenon of increased amplitude that occurs when the frequency of an applied periodic force (or a Fourier component of it) is equal or close to a natural frequency of the system on which it acts. When an oscilla ...

with the outer wing panels (at the same frequency, or harmonically related ones), violent up-and-down oscillation increased until the wings would tear off. The company implemented an expensive modification program (the Lockheed Electra Achievement Program, LEAP) in which the engine mounts and the wing structures supporting the mounts were strengthened, and some of the wing skins were replaced with thicker material. All Electras were modified at Lockheed's expense at the factory, with the modifications taking 20 days for each aircraft. The changes were incorporated in later aircraft as they were built. However, the damage had been done, and the public lost confidence in the type. This and the smaller jets that were being introduced eventually relegated Electras to the smallest airlines. Production ended in 1961 after 170 had been built. Losses to Lockheed have been estimated as high as $57 million, not counting an additional $55 million in lawsuits. Electras continued to carry passengers into the 1980s, but most now in use are freighters. Several airlines in the US flew Electras, but the only European airline to order the type from Lockheed was

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, legally ''Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V.'' (literal translation: Royal Aviation Company Plc.), is the flag carrier airline of the Netherlands. KLM is headquartered in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amste ...

, which used 12 between September 1959 and January 1969 in Europe and east to Saigon and Kuala Lumpur. Lockheed L-188C ZK-TEA ANZ

In the South Pacific,

Tasman Empire Airways Limited Tasman Empire Airways Limited (1940–1965), better known as TEAL, is the former name of Air New Zealand Limited (1965–). TEAL was formed by an ''Intergovernmental Agreement for Tasman Sea Air Services'' (also known as the ''Tasman Sea Ag ...

(TEAL) and its successor

Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier airline of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 30 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily around and within the Pacific ...

flew the Electra on trans-Tasman flights. In Australia

Trans Australia Airlines Trans Australia Airlines (TAA), renamed Australian Airlines in 1986, was one of the two major Australian domestic airlines between its inception in 1946 and its merger with Qantas in September 1992. As a result of the "COBRA" (or Common Brand ...

(TAA) and Ansett each operated three Electras on trunk routes between the Australian mainland state capital cities, and later to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

, from 1959 until 1971. Ansett had its three Electras converted to freighters in 1970–71 and continued to fly them until 1984.

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

also operated four Electras on its routes to Hong Kong and Japan, to

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

, and to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

(until the New Guinea route was handed to Ansett and TAA); then later across the Indian Ocean to South Africa, and across the Tasman in competition with TEAL after that airline became 100% New Zealand-owned. The divestiture of TEAL's 50%-Australian shareholding was itself prompted by the Electra order, as TEAL wanted jet aircraft, but was forced by the Australian government to order Electras in order to standardise with Qantas. Three Qantas Electras were retired in the mid-1960s and the fourth in 1971. Some Electras were sold to South American airlines, where the Electra had highly successful operations, such as those of

Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano S.A.M. (abbreviated LAB and internationally known as LAB Airlines), was the flag carrier and principal airline of Bolivia from 1925 until it ceased operations in 2010. Before its demise it was headquartered in Cochabamba ...

and

Líneas Aéreas Paraguayas LAP - Líneas Aéreas Paraguayas (also referred as ''LAP'' and later LAPSA Air Paraguay) was a Paraguayan airline that was founded in November 1962 to be the flag carrier airline of Paraguay. Its main hub was Silvio Pettirossi International Airp ...

; in both cases, the Electra ensured the airlines' international operations before they started using jets. Most notably, Brazilian flag carrier airline

Varig VARIG (acronym for Viação Aérea RIo-Grandense, ''Rio Grandean Airways'') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline, and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went ...

operated flawlessly a fleet of 14 Electras on the extremely busy

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

shuttle service (the so-called ''Ponte Aérea'' - or "Air Bridge" in Portuguese) for 30 years, completing over half a million flights on the route before the type was replaced by

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

and

Fokker 100 The Fokker 100 is a regional jet produced by Fokker in the Netherlands. The Fokker 100 is based on the Fokker F28 with a fuselage stretched by to seat up to 109 passengers, up from 85. It is powered by two newer Rolls-Royce Tay turbofans, ...

jets in 1992. The Electra became so iconic on that route that its retirement caused a commotion in Brazil, with extensive press coverage and many special tributes. During the mid-1970s, several secondhand Electras were bought by travel clubs, including Adventurers and Shillelaghs. Others were retired from passenger service into air-cargo use, 40 being modified by a subsidiary of Lockheed from 1968 with one or two large doors in the left side of the fuselage and a reinforced cabin floor. Air California and

Pacific Southwest Airlines Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) was a regional U.S. airline headquartered in San Diego, California, that operated from 1949 to 1998. It was the first large discount airline in the United States. PSA called itself "The World's Friendliest Airl ...

(PSA) were still operating Electras for scheduled passenger service during the late 1970s primarily into the

Lake Tahoe Airport Lake Tahoe Airport is a public airport three miles southwest of South Lake Tahoe, in El Dorado County, California. It covers and has one runway; it is sometimes called Tahoe Valley Airport. History The airport in the Sierra Nevada just south ...

located in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

mountains of California, as this airfield had banned scheduled jet aircraft flights at the time.

Military use

In 1973, the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the ...

bought three Electras equipped with cargo doors. These were used during the "

Dirty War The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 a ...

" to toss political prisoners into the

Rio de La Plata Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

in the infamous

death flights Death flights ( es, vuelos de la muerte, links=no) are a form of extrajudicial killing practiced by military forces in possession of aircraft: victims are dropped to their death from airplanes or helicopters into oceans, large rivers or even mount ...

. The Electras were also used for transport duties during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

in 1982. In 1983, after the retirement of its last SP-2H Neptune, the Argentine Navy bought further civilian Electra airframes, modified several for

maritime patrol {{Unreferenced, date=March 2008 Maritime patrol is the task of monitoring areas of water. Generally conducted by military and law enforcement agencies, maritime patrol is usually aimed at identifying human activities. Maritime patrol refers to ac ...

, and widely used them until their replacement by P-3s in 1994. One of the Argentine Navy's Electras, known locally as L-188E ''Electron'', is preserved at the Argentine Naval Aviation Museum (''Museo de la Aviación Naval'') at

Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: White Bay) is a city in the southwest of the provinces of Argentina, province of Buenos Aires Province, Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the seat of government of the Bahía Blanca Partido. It had 3 ...

Variants

; :Initial production version ;L-188AF (All Freight version) :Unofficial designation for freighter conversions of L-188A carried out under a supplementary type certificate. ;L-188PF (Passenger-Freight version) :Unofficial designation for freighter conversions of L-188A carried out under a supplementary type certificate. ; :Long-range version with increased fuel capacity ( fuel capacity from on L-188A) and a higher operating gross weight (Maximum takeoff weight is compared to of the "A" version). ;L-188CF :Unofficial designation for freighter conversion of L-188C carried out under a supplementary type certificate. ; YP-3A Orion :One Orion aerodynamic test bed, fuselage shortened by .

Operators

Current operators

As of July 2018, only two Electras remain in active airliner service. Other aircraft are in service as air tankers and cargo aircraft as follows: ;Canada * Air Spray (

aerial firefighting Aerial may refer to: Music * ''Aerial'' (album), by Kate Bush * ''Aerials'' (song), from the album ''Toxicity'' by System of a Down Bands *Aerial (Canadian band) * Aerial (Scottish band) * Aerial (Swedish band) Performance art * Aerial sil ...

) fourteen registered with nine in active service as air tankers; * Buffalo Airways (cargo/bulk fuel and aerial firefighting) shows eight registered with four in active service (two used for Cargo/Bulk Fuel Transport and two as air tankers) *

Conair Group Conair Group Inc. of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, formerly known as Conair Aviation, is a company specializing in retrofitting firefighting aircraft, maintaining customer and company-owned aircraft and aerial firefighting. Conair cu ...

(aerial firefighting) with one registered in active service as an air tanker.

Former civilian operators

;Australia * Ansett Airlines *

;Austria * Amerer Air ;Bolivia *

;Brazil *

;Canada *International Jetair * Northwest Territorial Airways *

Nordair Nordair was a Quebec-based airline in Canada founded in 1947 from the merger of Boreal Airways and Mont Laurier Aviation. History The airline operated from the 1940s to the 1980s. Initially, most of its business was international and transatla ...

1972–1987 (

Canadian Airlines Canadian Airlines International Ltd. (stylized as Canadi›n Airlines or Canadi‹n Airlines, or simply Canadian) was a Canadian airline that operated from 1987 until 2001. The airline was Canada's second largest airline after Air Canada, carr ...

1987–1989) - 4 operated for

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...

Ice Reconnaissance service 1970s–1989 ;Colombia *

SAM Colombia SAM (Spanish acronym: ''Sociedad Aeronáutica de Medellín'') was a Colombian airline. With its main hub at El Dorado International Airport in Bogotá, SAM operated domestic and international routes and was a subsidiary of Avianca. In 2004, its h ...

* Aerocondor Colombia * Aerocosta ;Republic of the Congo *

Trans Service Airlift Trans Service Airlift (TSA) was an airline based at N'djili Airport, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was privately owned and operated in years 1991–1998. Accidents and incidents *On December 18, 1995 a Lockheed L-188C Electra o ...

;Costa Rica *

Aero Servicios Puntarenas SA Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero (Po ...

(APSA) *

Lacsa Avianca Costa Rica S.A., formerly known as LACSA (''Spanish: Lineas Aéreas Costarricenses S.A.''), minority owned by the Synergy Group, is the national airline of Costa Rica and is based in San José. It operates international scheduled servic ...

;Ecuador * Ecuatoriana de Aviación * Transportes Aereos Nacionales Ecuatorianos (TAME) ;El Salvador *

TACA International Airlines Transportes Aereos del Continente Americano, (''Air Transports of the American Continent'', known and branded formerly as TACA International), operating as Avianca El Salvador, is an airline owned by Kingsland Holdings based in El Salvador. As T ...

;Guyana *

Guyana Airways Guyana Airways was the flag carrier of Guyana. It was an important link for the Guyanese community as it provided a way into and out of the country. During its operations, Guyana Airways operated services to destinations in the Caribbean, the U ...

;Honduras *

SAHSA ''Servicio Aéreo de Honduras S.A.'' otherwise known as SAHSA Airlines was the national flag carrier airline of Honduras from October 22, 1945, to January 14, 1994. The airline was a subsidiary of Pan American Airways and merged with ''Transpor ...

*Transportes Aereos Nacionales (TAN Airlines) ;Hong Kong *

Cathay Pacific Airways Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have s ...

;Indonesia * Garuda Indonesia Airlines *

Mandala Airlines Tigerair Mandala (''formerly Mandala Airlines'') was a low-cost carrier headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia and an associate company of the Singapore-based Tigerair Group. The former full service airline repositioned itself as a budget airline/ ...

;Ireland *

Hunting Cargo Airlines Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

;Laos *

Royal Air Lao Royal Air Lao was the national air carrier of the Kingdom of Laos that operated from 1962 to 1974. History The company was founded in 1962. In September 1976 the Civil Aviation Company was formed from the merger of Royal Air Lao and Lao Ai ...

;Mexico *

Banco de México The Bank of Mexico ( es, Banco de México), abbreviated ''BdeM'' or ''Banxico,'' is Mexico's central bank, monetary authority and lender of last resort. The Bank of Mexico is autonomous in exercising its functions, and its main objective is to ac ...

(corporate aircraft) *Mex-Jet Cargo (all cargo freighter version) ;Netherlands *

Martinair Martinair (legally ''Martinair Holland N.V.'') is a Dutch cargo airline headquartered and based at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and a subsidiary of Air France–KLM. The airline was founded in 1958 by Martin Schröder. Since 2011, Martinair has op ...

;Netherlands Antilles * Air ALM (all cargo freighter version) ;Norway * Fred. Olsen AirtransportHagby 1998, p. 55. *

Nordic Air Nordic Air A/S was a Norwegian cargo airline based at Sandefjord Airport, Torp. It operated from 1970 to 1973 with a Douglas DC-4, later replaced with two Lockheed L-188 Electra. The airline was not allowed to fly scheduled routes, and relied on ...

;New Zealand *

TEAL alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue colour. Its name comes from that of a bird — the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'') — which presents a similarly coloured stripe on its head. The word is oft ...

;Panama *

Copa Airlines Compañía Panameña de Aviación, S.A., (commonly referred to as Copa and branded simply as "Copa Airlines") is the flag carrier of Panama. It is headquartered in Panama City, Panama, with its main hub at Tocumen International Airport. Copa is ...

;Paraguay *

;Peru * Líneas Aéreas Nacionales SA ;Philippines * Air Manila International ;Sweden * Falcon Air *

West Air Sweden West Air Sweden, operating as West Atlantic, is a cargo airline based in Malmö, Sweden. It operates scheduled and ad hoc freight charter services for FedEx, DHL and UPS. It is also contracted to operate mail flights for different postal servi ...

;Taiwan * Winner Airways (one L-188A leased from

for two months in 1970) ;United Kingdom * Air Bridge Carriers * Atlantic Airlines *

Channel Express Channel Express (Air Services) Limited was an airline with its head office in Building 470 at Bournemouth International Airport in Christchurch, Dorset, near Bournemouth. It operated scheduled services from Bournemouth to the Channel Islands a ...

;United States * Air California *

Air Florida Air Florida was an American low-cost carrier that operated from 1971 to 1984. In 1975 it was headquartered in the Dadeland Towers in what is now Kendall, Florida in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. Air Florida's IATA code is now used by ...

*Air Southwest *

* American Flyers Airline *

Braniff International Airways Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...

Denver Ports of Call Denver Ports of Call is a defunct United States private airline which operated flights for the Denver-based Ports of Call Travel Club from 1967 to 1992. In its heyday, Ports of Call was the largest travel club in the United States, with at one ti ...

Evergreen International Airlines Evergreen International Airlines was a charter and cargo airline based in McMinnville, Oregon, United States. Wholly owned by Evergreen International Aviation, it had longstanding ties to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It operated co ...

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

* Fairbanks Air Service *

Great Northern Airlines Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

Gulf Air Transport Gulf Air Transport was a small charter airline headquartered at the Acadiana Regional Airport (ARA), a former U.S. Navy military airbase located in New Iberia, Louisiana, United States. The company flew piston, turboprop and jet aircraft ty ...

Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiian Airlines ( haw, Hui Mokulele o Hawaiʻi ) is the largest operator of commercial flights to and from the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is the tenth-largest commercial airline in the United States, and is based at Honolulu, Hawaii. The airl ...

(all cargo freighter versions) *

Holiday Airlines Holiday Airlines was a Turkish charter company that operated between 1994 and 1996. History Holiday Airlines in Turkey began operations in the summer of 1994 using Airbus A320 aircraft serving mostly the German tourist market. Holiday Airli ...

Intermountain Airlines Intermountain Airlines, also known as Intermountain Aviation and Intermountain Airways, was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) airline front company. Intermountain performed covert operations for the CIA in Southeast Asia and elsewhere during the ...

* Johnson International Airlines *

McCulloch International Airlines Vance International Airlines was an American supplemental and air-taxi airline that started operations in 1949. History Vance was headquartered at Boeing Field (officially ''King County Airport'') in Seattle, Washington. Its founder and president ...

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

* National Airlines *

National Center for Atmospheric Research The US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR ) is a US federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and funded by the National Science Foundatio ...

Overseas National Airways The original Overseas National Airways Inc (ONA) was an American airline, formed in June 1950 as a supplemental air carrier. It ceased operations on September 14, 1978. The airline started as Air Travel in 1946 and was renamed Calasia Air Transpo ...

Reeve Aleutian Airways Reeve Aleutian Airways was an airline headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska, United States. It ceased operations on December 5, 2000. History Founding In February 1946, Bob Reeve received a call informing him that some ex USAAF C-47s and Dougl ...

(passenger/cargo " Combi" versions) *

Renown Aviation Renown may refer to: * Celebrity, fame and broad public recognition Companies * Renown (company), a Japanese clothing brand * Renown Health, a healthcare network in Nevada, US * Renown Pictures, a British film company Transport Ships * ''Renown ...

Saturn Airways Saturn Airways ( ICAO designator: KS, and Callsign: Saturn) was a US "supplemental carrier", i.e. a charter airline. It operated from 1948 until 1976. Its headquarters were located on the grounds of Oakland International Airport, Oakland, Calif ...

*Shillelagh Travel Club *

Southeast Airlines Southeast Airlines was established in 1993 as Sun Jet International and was founded by Tom Kolfenbach. It was a low fare public charter airline in the United States, headquartered in Largo, Florida, operating regular service to various vacation ...

Trans International Airlines Trans International Airlines (TIA) was an airline that offered charter service from and within the United States. It also operated scheduled passenger service flying as Transamerica Airlines as well as charter flights during its last decade. Its ...

, later became

Transamerica Airlines Trans International Airlines (TIA) was an airline that offered charter service from and within the United States. It also operated scheduled passenger service flying as Transamerica Airlines as well as charter flights during its last decade. Its ...

* TPI International Airways *

Western Airlines Western Airlines was a major airline based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and N ...

Zantop International Airlines Zantop International Airlines, Inc., was a United States airline incorporated in May 1972 as a Michigan corporation, the stock of which was 100% owned by the Zantop family. History Zantop traces its origins to 1946 when the Zantop family set up Z ...

;Zaire *

Karibu Airways Karibu Airways was an airline in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It stood on the List of air carriers banned in the EU. Due to two plane crashes in 2007 (see below) the confidence in the airline was lost. subsequently, all operations cam ...

Military operators

;Argentina *

Argentine Naval Aviation ) Gulf War , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = , commander1 = President , commander1_label = Commander-in-Chief , commander2 ...

;Bolivia *

Bolivian Air Force The Bolivian Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Boliviana or 'FAB') is the air force of Bolivia and branch of the Bolivian Armed Forces. History By 1938 the Bolivian air force consisted of about 60 aircraft (Curtiss Hawk fighters, Curtiss T-32 Co ...

- 1 from 1973, still in use in 1987. ;Ecuador *

TAME Tame may refer to: *Taming, the act of training wild animals *River Tame, Greater Manchester *River Tame, West Midlands and the Tame Valley * Tame, Arauca, a Colombian town and municipality * "Tame" (song), a song by the Pixies from their 1989 al ...

;Honduras *

Honduran Air Force The Honduras Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Hondureña, sometimes abbreviated to FAH in English) is the air force of Honduras. As such it is the air power arm of the Honduras Armed Forces. History The first Honduras military flying took place ...

- one 188A from 1979 ;Mexico *

Mexican Air Force The Mexican Air Force (FAM; es, Fuerza Aérea Mexicana) is the primary aerial warfare service branch of the Mexican Armed Forces. It is a component of the Mexican Army and depends on the National Defense Secretariat ( SEDENA). The objective of ...

- one 188A from 1978 to 1987. ;Panama *

Panamanian Air Force The Panamanian Public Forces ( es, Fuerza Pública de la República de Panamá) are the national security forces of Panama. Panama is the second country in Latin America (the other being Costa Rica) to permanently abolish standing armies, with P ...

- One 188C from 1973 to 1984.

Orders

;Model 188A *

ordered 40 188As which were delivered between November 1958 and August 1959, the last five as 188Cs. *

ordered 35 188As which were delivered between November 1958 and March 1960. * National Airlines ordered 14 188As which were delivered between April 1959 and January 1961. * Ansett-ANA ordered three 188As which were delivered to Australia in February 1959, April 1959 and February 1960. *

Braniff Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until air operations ceased, was an airline in the United States that once flew air carrier operations from 1928 un ...

ordered nine 188As which were delivered between April 1959 and January 1960. *

ordered 12 188As which were delivered between May 1959 and February 1961. *

Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...

ordered two 188As which were delivered in 1959. *

ordered three 188As which were delivered to Australia between June 1959 and August 1960. *

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

ordered one 188A which was delivered in July 1958. ;Model 188C *

Northwest Orient Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

ordered 18 188Cs which were delivered between July 1959 and June 1961. *

ordered three 188Cs which were delivered in November and December 1959. * Capital Airlines ordered five 188Cs but later cancelled the order. The five aircraft were sold to other operators. *

ordered four 188Cs which were delivered between October and December 1959. *

ordered 12 188Cs which were delivered between September 1959 and December 1960. * Tasman Empire Airways ordered three 188Cs which were delivered in October and December 1959. *

Garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...

ordered three 188Cs which were delivered in January 1961.

Aircraft on display

*s/no. 1003 ex

''N428NA''. This was the first P-3 Orion prototype. It was converted from an existing L188 Electra airframe into the YP3V-1/YP-3A Orion. It was later converted into the NP-3A by

United States Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

, then used by NASA for the Earth Resources Observation Program. Preserved at the

National Naval Aviation Museum The National Naval Aviation Museum, formerly known as the National Museum of Naval Aviation and the Naval Aviation Museum, is a military and aerospace museum located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Founded in 1962 and moved to its cur ...

, Forrest Sherman Field,

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

. *s/no. 1025 ex

''PP-VJM''; preserved at the

Museu Aeroespacial Museu Aeroespacial is a national aviation museum located in the West Side of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the Administrative Region of Realengo. The place is known as "the Brazilian Aviation cradle".Ogden (2008) Address Av. Marechal Fontenelle, 2000 ...

in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil *s/no. 1125 TAM69, in

TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar (Military Air Transport) was an airline based in La Paz, Bolivia. It was owned by the Bolivian Air Force, and was established to offer flights to rural communities where commercial airlines could not operate pr ...

colors at the Bolivia Aeronautical Museum, El Alto, La Paz, Bolivia. * ex Argentine Navy ''6-P-104'', converted to L-188EW WAVE, retired in 1996; on display at the Museo de la Aviación Naval,

Bahia Blanca Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest by ...

, Argentina. * ex Argentine Navy ''6-P-106'', converted to L-188E Electron, retired in 1996; on display at the Museo de la Aviación Naval, Comandante Espora Air Naval Base, Bahia Blanca.

Accidents and incidents

Of the total of 170 Electras built, as of June 2011, 58 have been written off because of crashes and other accidents. * February 3, 1959:

American Airlines Flight 320 American Airlines Flight 320 was a scheduled flight between Chicago Midway International Airport and New York City's LaGuardia Airport. On February 3, 1959, the Lockheed L-188 Electra performing the flight crashed into the East River during its d ...

en route from Chicago to New York City's LaGuardia Airport crashed on approach, 65 of 73 on board died. * September 29, 1959: A

Electra ( Braniff Flight 542) crashed in

Buffalo, Texas Buffalo is a city in Leon County, Texas, Leon County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,767 at the 2020 census. Geography Buffalo is located at (31.461402, –96.063024). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city ha ...

, en route to

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

from

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. All 29 passengers and five crew members died in the crash. The Civil Aeronautics Board blamed the crash on the "whirl-mode" prop theory and in-flight separation of a wing from the aircraft. * March 17, 1960: Northwest Orient Flight 710, en route from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, broke apart in flight over

Perry County, Indiana Perry County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Indiana. As of 2010, the population was 19,338. The county seat is Tell City. It is the hilliest county as well as one of the most forested counties in Indiana as it ...

, in the second "whirl-mode" crash. All 63 people on board died (57 passengers and six crew members). * September 14, 1960: An Electra operated as American Airlines Flight 361 caught its landing gear on a dike while landing at

LaGuardia Airport LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...

. The aircraft came to rest upside down. There were no fatalities among the 76 occupants (70 passengers, six crew). * October 4, 1960: Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 crashed on takeoff from Boston, Massachusetts's

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...

; 62 of 72 on board died. The crash was eventually determined to be the result of bird ingestion into three of the four engines. * June 12, 1961: KLM Flight 823 crashed short of the runway on approach to

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

; 20 of the 36 on board died. * September 17, 1961: Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 crashed on takeoff from Chicago-

O'Hare International Airport Chicago O'Hare International Airport , sometimes referred to as, Chicago O'Hare, or simply O'Hare, is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately northwest of the Chicago Loop, ...

; all 37 on board died. The crash was eventually determined to be the result of mechanical failure in the aileron primary control system due to the improper replacement of the aileron boost assembly. * March 27, 1965: While on a training flight, a Tasman Empire Airways L-188 crashed while landing at

Whenuapai Whenuapai is a suburb and aerodrome located in northwestern Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the northwestern shore of the Waitematā Harbour, 15 kilometres to the northwest of Auckland's city centre. It is one of t ...

airport in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Although the aircraft was completely destroyed, all occupants escaped with only one minor injury. * April 22, 1966: American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D crashed into a hill on approach to

Ardmore Municipal Airport Ardmore Municipal Airport is in Carter County, Oklahoma, northeast of the city of Ardmore, which owns it. It is near Gene Autry, Oklahoma.Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

; all five crew and 78 of the 93 passengers on board died. * February 16, 1967: Garuda Indonesia Airways Flight 708 crashed while attempting to land at Manado-Sam Ratulangi Airport. A total of 22 of 92 passengers and crew on board died. The crash was eventually determined to be the result of an awkward landing technique resulting in an excessive rate of sink on touchdown. Marginal weather at the time of landing was a contributing factor. * May 3, 1968:

Braniff Flight 352 Braniff International Airways Flight 352 was a scheduled domestic flight from William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, United States, to Dallas Love Field in Dallas; on May 3, 1968, a Lockheed L-188A Electra flying on the route, registration ...

, en route from

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, disintegrated over

Dawson, Texas Dawson is a town in Navarro County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 807 at the 2010 census. History The town was established in 1847 and was the second town established in the county. Geography Dawson is located at (31.895427 ...

. All 80 passengers and five crew members died. This was the deadliest aviation disaster in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

at the time. The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

found the

probable cause In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal or the issuing of a search warrant. There is no universally accepted definition o ...

to be overstressing of the structure beyond its ultimate strength during attempted recovery from unusual aircraft attitude produced by

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...

of a

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

. * August 9, 1970:

LANSA Flight 502 LANSA Flight 502 was a Lockheed L-188A Electra operated by Líneas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anónima (LANSA) which crashed shortly after takeoff from Quispiquilla Airport near Cusco, Peru, on August 9, 1970, after losing all power from one ...

crashed shortly after takeoff from Quispiquilla Airport near

Cusco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...

, Peru; 99 of the 100 people on board, plus two people on the ground, died. The co-pilot was the only survivor. * December 24, 1971:

LANSA Flight 508 LANSA Flight 508 was a Lockheed L-188A Electra turboprop, registered OB-R-941, operated as a scheduled domestic passenger flight by Lineas Aéreas Nacionales Sociedad Anonima (LANSA), which crashed in a thunderstorm en route from Lima to Pucall ...

, en route from

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

to Pucallpa, Peru, entered an area of strong turbulence and lightning and disintegrated in midair due to structural failure following a lightning strike and fire. Of the 92 people on board, 91 died. One passenger,

Juliane Koepcke Juliane Koepcke (born 10 October 1954), also known by her married name Juliane Diller, is a German-Peruvian mammalogist and biologist. In 1971, when she was 17 years old, Koepcke survived the LANSA Flight 508 plane crash. After falling while ...

, survived when trees cushioned her fall into the rainforest. * August 27, 1973: A Lockheed L-188A Electra passenger plane (HK-777) operated by Aerocondor was destroyed when it flew into the side of the Cerro el Cable mountain shortly after takeoff from Bogotá-Eldorado Airport (BOG), Colombia. All 36 passengers and six crew members died. * October 30, 1974: On approach to Rea Point Airfield on Melville Island, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut), Canada,

Panarctic Oils Panarctic Oils Limited was formed in 1966 as a result of the Canadian government's eagerness to encourage exploration of the Canadian Arctic islands and to assert Canadian sovereignty in the region. That company consolidated the interests of 75 c ...

Flight 416 crashed into the ice-covered sea some 3 km south of its destination after the pilot-in-command abruptly increased the rate of descent in apparent disorientation. All 30 passengers and two of the four crew members, including the pilot-in-command, died. * June 4, 1976: An Air Manila 188A (RP-C1061) crashed just after takeoff from the Guam Naval Air Station; the 45 occupants and one person on the ground died. * On November 18, 1979,

L-188 (N859U), operating a flight for the US military (Logair 3N18) from Hill Air Force Base, crashed near Salt Lake City airport, Utah. While climbing between 12,000 and 13,000 ft, all electrical power was lost; the crew requested an immediate descent. The aircraft attained a high airspeed and a high rate of descent and the aircraft disintegrated in flight; all three crew members died. The NTSB investigation stated the probable cause was a progressive failure of the aircraft electrical system leading to the disabling or erratic performance of flight critical flight instruments and lighting. As a result, the crew became disoriented and lost control of the aircraft. The crew's efforts to regain control of the aircraft imposed loads which exceeded the design limits and caused it to break up in flight. *On 8 June 1983, Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8's number-four propeller separated from the aircraft and tore a hole in the fuselage over the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

causing a rapid decompression and loss of control. The pilots managed to land the aircraft safely at Anchorage, Alaska and all 15 passengers and crew survived. Since the propeller fell into the sea and was never recovered, the cause of the separation is unknown. * May 30, 1984, Zantop International Airlines Flight 931, a Lockheed L-188AF Electra (N5523) flying regularly scheduled cargo service from Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) to Detroit-Willow Run Airport (YIP), crashed at Chalkhill, Pennsylvania; all three crew members and the sole passenger died. While cruising at FL220, at approximately 01:44 AM, the aircraft entered an unusual attitude shortly after a course change. During efforts to recover the aircraft the pilots imposed loads on the airframe that exceeded the aircraft's design limits and it broke apart at altitude. NTSB reported that in-flight problems with the aircraft's gyros likely provided conflicting attitude data to the flight crew at the time of the upset and this, combined with a lack of visual cues, were contributing causes of the accident. * January 21, 1985: Chartered

Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 was a Lockheed L-188 Electra 4-engine turboprop, registration N5532, operating as a non-scheduled charter flight from Reno, Nevada to Minneapolis/St Paul, which crashed on January 21, 1985, shortly after takeoff. All b ...

crashed after takeoff from Reno-Cannon International Airport en route to Minneapolis, Minnesota; 70 of the 71 people on board died. * September 12, 1988: Tame Ecuador L-188A Electra, registration HC-AZY, crashed near Lago Agrio Airport shortly after takeoff; six crew and one passenger died . * September 4, 1989: Tame Ecuador L-188C Electra, registration HC-AZJ, crash-landed at Taura AFB with no fatalities. * December 18, 1995: An overloaded 188C of Trans Service Airlift crashed near Cahungula, Angola, with the loss of 141 of the 144 occupants. This is the deadliest aviation disaster involving the Lockheed L-188 Electra. * July 16, 2003: An Air Spray Lockheed L-188 Electra (Tanker #86 C-GFQA) crashed and was destroyed near Cranbrook, British Columbia shortly after delivering the retardant load. Tanker 86 was seen to turn right initially, then entered a turn to the left. At 1221 MST, the Electra struck the terrain on the side of a steep ridge at about 3900 feet above sea level. The aircraft exploded on impact and the two pilots died. An intense post-crash fire consumed much of the wreckage and started a forest fire at the crash site and the surrounding area.

Specifications (Model 188A)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* "2010 World Airliner Census". ''Flight International'', August 24–30, 2010, pp. 29–49.
"2011 World Airliner Census". ''Flight International''

''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'', February 13, 1959, p. 231. * Allen, Eric. ''Airliners in Australian Service, Volume 1.'' Weston Creek ACT: Aerospace Publications, 1995. . * Brimson, Samuel. ''Flying the Royal Mail: The History of Australia's Airlines''. Sydney, Australia: Dreamweaver Books, 1984. . * Eastwood, Tony and John Roach. ''Turbo Prop Airliner Production List.'' West Drayton, Middlesex, UK: The Aviation Hobby Shop, 1990. . * . * Francillon, René J. ''Lockheed Aircraft since 1913''. London: Putnam, 1982. . * Hagby, Kay
''Fra Nielsen & Winther til Boeing 747'' (in Norwegian).
Drammen, Norway. Hagby, 1998. . * Siegrist, Martin. "Bolivian Air Power — Seventy Years On". ''

Air International ''AIR International'' is a British aviation magazine covering current defence aerospace and civil aviation topics. It has been in publication since 1971 and is currently published by Key Publishing Ltd. History and profile The magazine was fir ...

'', Vol. 33, No. 4, October 1987. pp. 170–176, 194. . * * * * Taylor, John W. R. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1961–62''. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd., 1961.

External links

Information, Pictures and Production List

Kiwanis Electra Memorial website

NTSB Report on 1968 Braniff N9707C Crash

a 1955 ''Flight'' article {{Authority control L-0188 Electra 1950s United States airliners Four-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Four-engined turboprop aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1957