The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. With its fairly 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 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 altitude airfields. Initial sales were good, but after two fatal crashes that led to expensive modifications to fix a design defect, no more were ordered. Jet airliners soon supplanted turboprops for many purposes, and many Electras were modified as freighters. Some Electras are still being used in various roles into the 21st century. This was followed by Eastern Air Lines with an order for 40 on September 27, 1955.

thumb|L188C Electra of [[KLM Royal Dutch Airlines operating a passenger service at Manchester Airport in 1963]]

thumb|An L-188CF of [[Atlantic Airlines (United Kingdom)|Atlantic Airlines in 2004]]

thumb|An Electra freighter of NWT Air at [[Vancouver Airport in August 1983]]

thumb|Lockheed L-188 Electra of [[Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano operating at El Alto International Airport, La Paz, Bolivia, in 1970]]

In 1957, the United States Navy issued a requirement for an advanced maritime patrol aircraft. 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 powered by four wing-mounted Allison 501-D13 turboprops. It has a retractable tricycle landing gear and a conventional tail. 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 15000 kg / 33069 lbs.

Operational history

Civilian operations

American Airlines was the launch customer. Eastern Air Lines, Braniff Airways, and Northwest 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. in both cases, the Electra ensured the airlines' international operations before they started using jets. Most notably, Brazilian flag carrier airline Varig operated flawlessly a fleet of 14 Electras on the extremely busy Rio de Janeiro-São Paulo 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 and Fokker 100 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 air travel clubs, including Nomads, 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. Thirteen other aircraft remained in service as air tankers, nine with Air Spray (aerial firefighting) and four with Buffalo Airways (cargo/bulk fuel and aerial firefighting).

  • International Jetair
  • Northwest Territorial Airways
  • Nordair 1972–1987 (Canadian Airlines 1987–1989) - 4 operated for Transport Canada Ice Reconnaissance service 1970s–1989

;Colombia

  • SAM Colombia
  • Aerocondor Colombia
  • Aerocosta

;Republic of the Congo

  • Trans Service Airlift

;Costa Rica

  • Aero Servicios Puntarenas SA (APSA)
  • Lacsa

;Ecuador

  • Ecuatoriana de Aviación
  • Transportes Aereos Nacionales Ecuatorianos (TAME)

;El Salvador

  • TACA International Airlines

;Guyana

  • Guyana Airways

;Honduras

  • SAHSA
  • Transportes Aereos Nacionales (TAN Airlines)

;Hong Kong

  • Cathay Pacific Airways

;Indonesia

  • Garuda Indonesia Airlines
  • Mandala Airlines

;Ireland

  • Hunting Cargo Airlines

;Laos

  • Royal Air Lao

;Mexico

  • Banco de México (corporate aircraft)
  • Mex-Jet Cargo (all cargo freighter version)

;Netherlands

  • KLM
  • Martinair

;Netherlands Antilles

  • Air ALM (all cargo freighter version)

;Norway

  • Fred. Olsen Airtransport
  • Nordic Air Comment: Air Southwest was the working name under which Southwest Airlines was developed, and the original plan was, in fact, to use Electras. But, when the airline was finally permitted to fly, they changed their name and their fleet type - the name to Southwest Airlines, the fleet type to Boeing 737s. They never flew under the name Air Southwest, and never flew an Electra. Never owned or leased one. So "Air Southwest" does not belong on this list. -->
  • American Airlines
  • American Flyers Airline
  • Braniff International Airways
  • Cam Air International
  • Denver Ports of Call
  • Eastern Air Lines
  • Evergreen International Airlines
  • Federal Aviation Administration
  • Fleming International Airways
  • Fairbanks Air Service
  • Great Northern Airlines
  • Gulf Air Transport
  • Hawaiian Airlines (in cargo service)
  • Holiday Airlines
  • Intermountain Aviation
  • Interstate Airlines
  • Johnson International Airlines
  • McCulloch International Airlines
  • McCulloch Properties
  • NASA
  • National Airlines
  • National Center for Atmospheric Research
  • Northwest Airlines
  • Overseas National Airways
  • Saturn Airways
  • Shillelagh Travel Club
  • Western Airlines
  • Zantop International Airlines

;Zaire

  • Karibu Airways
  • Trans Service Airlift

Military operators

;Argentina

  • Argentine Naval Aviation

;Bolivia

  • Bolivian Air Force – 1 from 1973, still in use in 1987.

;Ecuador

  • TAME

;Honduras

  • Honduran Air Force – one 188A from 1979

;Mexico

  • Mexican Air Force – one 188A from 1978 to 1987.

;Panama

  • Panamanian Air Force – One 188C from 1973 to 1984.

Orders

;Model 188A

  • Eastern Air Lines ordered 40 188As which were delivered between November 1958 and August 1959, the last five as 188Cs. Preserved at the National Naval Aviation Museum, Forrest Sherman Field, Pensacola, Florida.
  • s/no. 1025 ex Varig PP-VJM; preserved at the Museu Aeroespacial in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • s/no. 1125 TAM69, in TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar 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, Argentina.

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.

  • October 4, 1960: Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 crashed on takeoff from Boston, Massachusetts's Logan International Airport; 62 of 72 on board died. The crash was eventually determined to be the result of bird ingestion into three of the four engines.
  • April 22, 1966: American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D crashed into a hill on approach to Ardmore Municipal Airport in Oklahoma; all five crew and 78 of the 93 passengers on board died.
  • February 16, 1967: Garuda Indonesian 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.
  • December 24, 1971: LANSA Flight 508, en route from Lima 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.
  • 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 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: Air Manila Flight 702, an L-188A (RP-C1061), crashed just after takeoff from the Guam Naval Air Station; the 45 occupants and one person on the ground died.
  • 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 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 crashed after takeoff from Reno-Cannon International Airport en route to Minneapolis–St Paul Minnesota; 70 of the 71 people on board died.
  • September 4, 1989: A 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.
  • October 16, 2000: An Air Spray Lockheed L-188 Electra (Tanker #88 C-FQYB) was destroyed in a fire at Air Spray's maintenance facility in Red Deer, Alberta. Many other WW2 era planes were also consumed amidst the blaze.
  • 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)

Bibliography

  • "2010 World Airliner Census". Flight International, August 24–30, 2010, pp. 29–49.
  • "2011 World Airliner Census". Flight International
  • "Air Commerce: The New York Tragedy". Flight, 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; Roach, John. 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, 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.

Further reading

  • Information, Pictures and Production List
  • Engineering Summary of Propeller Whirl on the Electra
  • Kiwanis Electra Memorial website
  • NTSB Report on 1968 Braniff N9707C Crash
  • "Lockheed Electra" a 1955 Flight article