1959 Pan Am Douglas DC-6 crash

Pan American Airways Douglas DC-6B registered N5026K, named Clipper Panama was delivered on 28 May 1954. In 1958 it spent some time on lease to National Airlines but was returned to Pan Am. On 22 June 1959, under charter, Clipper Panama departed Frankfurt for New York with intermediate stops at Heathrow Airport and Shannon Airport. Captain Robert Realm and First Officer Henry R. Hayes were onboard with a crew of four plus two passengers. According to the Dublin Evening Herald, cargo and some mail were destroyed in the resulting fire but it is unclear where the mail had been loaded. ==Cause of the accident==

The No. 4 engine suffered a fatigue failure of its No. 1 propeller blade. According to lab results, the blade had previously been bent which resulted "in the disruption of the compressive stresses in the shot peened area of the propeller blade" being the probable cause because the unbalanced loads on the engine mounts resulted in the separation of the entire engine. ==References==