On July 16, 1957, KLM Flight 844 was a scheduled international flight from Biak-Mokmer Airport to Manila. There were 59 passengers and 9 crew members onboard the Lockheed L-1049E Super Constellation. The aircraft takes off from runway 10 at 3:32am and the captain requested that the runway lights be kept on and permission to carry out a low pass down the runway. Both requests were granted by ATC and the plane initiated a 180-degree turn but after making a left turn, the Super Connie starts losing altitude during the turn and crashed the Cenderawasih Bay, 4 minutes after takeoff. Of the 68 people onboard, only 10 survived. Initially, the probable cause of the accident was attributed to pilot error or technical failure. Because the accident occurred at night, the pilot might have misjudged his altitude relative to the sea.
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