The Crash of an Air France Super Constellation Dakar, Senegal August 29, 1960

The cause of the crash of an Air France Lockheed Super Constellation off the Atlantic Coast of Dakar, Senegal, in West Africa, has never been fully determined. Flight 343 was preparing to land when it was inexplicably lost in a rainstorm. All 63 persons on board, including a flight crew of 8, were killed. Theories that have been put forward to explain the plane coming down in the ocean include one which says that it made contact with a giant wave that eventually grew into Hurricane Donna. The Super Constellation was designed by Lockheed engineers in the 1940s. It offered safer travel than its predecessor, the Constellation, which was prone to fires and other hazards.