Douglas DC-6A accident near Golden Meadow, Louisiana, July 21, 1988
On July 21, 1988, a Douglas DC-6A, registered N33VX, was destroyed in an accident near Golden Meadow, Louisiana. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under foreign airline rules (Part 129). 3 people were killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 21, 1988
- Place
- Golden Meadow, Louisiana · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 3 people were killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Douglas DC-6A · all DC-6As on the register
- Registration
- N33VX · no longer on the register · serial 44615
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · foreign airline rules (Part 129)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
AFTER ABT 4.3 HRS ON AN OVERWATER FLT, THE CREW RPRTD THEY HAD 15 MIN OF FUEL REMAINING. SUBSEQUENTLY, 3 OF 4 ENGS LOST PWR FM FUEL EXHAUSTION. DRG AN EMERG LNDG, THE ACFT HIT A LEVEE & WAS EXTENSIVELY DMGD. MOST OF THE WRECKAGE CAME TO REST IN A DAINAGE CANAL. BODIES OF THE CREW WERE RCVRD FM THE WATER ON 7/22/88. DRG AN INV, NO FUEL WAS FND IN THE FUEL TANKS & NO FUEL SPILL WAS EVIDENT. RECORDS SHOWED THE ACFT HAD DEPD EL SALVADOR WITH 7 HRS OF FUEL. NO REASON FOR THE LOSS OF 2.7 HRS OF FUEL WAS VERIFIED; BUT ABT 1 MONTH AFTER THE ACDNT, AN EMPLOYEE OF THE OPERATOR RPRTD FINDING AN OPENDRAIN VLV IN THE WRECKAGE, INSIDE THE #4 ENG NACELLE. A METALLURGICAL EXAM INDCD THE VLV HAD BEEN IN AN OPEN PSN FOR AN EXTDD TIME. NO GND PSNL SAW FUEL DRAINING FM THE ACFT DRG START, TAXI OR TKOF. THE CREW HAD NO CTL OF THE VLV IN FLT. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THE #1, #2 & #3 ENGS WERE NOT PROVIDING PWR DRG IMPACT. ALL X-FEED VLV CTLS WERE FND IN X-FEED PSNS. ETHANOL WAS FND IN THE PLT'S & COPLT'S BLOOD, BUT THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT IT WAS THE RESULTED OF POSTMORTEM CHANGES.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,000 hours in all; 3,500 in this make and model; 110 in the last 90 days; 25 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 27,978 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, July 13, 1988; 19 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 100,000 lb
- Seats: 3
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W R-2800-CB/3 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: El Salvador OF at 7:45 pm
- Destination: NEO New Orleans LA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: dusk
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 10,000 ft; scat at 2,500 ft
- Temperature: 81°F (27°C), dew point 75°F (24°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:51 pm from HUM, 25 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.