Early aircraft disappearance
The disappearance of a Douglas DST airliner, registered NC16002, occurred on the night of 28 December 1948 near the end of a scheduled flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Miami, Florida. The aircraft carried 29 passengers and three crew members. No probable cause for the loss was determined by the official investigation and it remains unsolved.
Final flight.
Captained by pilot Robert Linquist, assisted by co-pilot Ernest Hill and stewardess Mary Burke, the aircraft ended its Miami-San Juan leg at 19:40 EST on 27 December. Linquist informed local repair crewmen that a landing gear warning light was not functioning and that the aircraft batteries were discharged and low on water. Unwilling to delay the aircraft's scheduled takeoff for Miami for several hours, Linquist said the batteries would be recharged by the aircraft's generators "en route".
Linquist taxied NC16002 to the end of runway 27 for takeoff, but stopped at the end of the apron due to lack of two-way radio communication. Although capable of receiving, Linquist reported to the head of Puerto Rican Transport, who had driven out to the aircraft, that the radio could not transmit because of the low batteries. After agreeing to stay close to San Juan until they were recharged enough to allow two-way contact, NC16002 finally lifted off at 22:03. After circling the city for 11 minutes, Linquist received confirmation from Civil Aeronautics Administration 
(CAA) at San Juan and told the tower that they were proceeding to Miami on a previous flight plan.
The weather was fine with high visibility, but the aircraft did not respond to subsequent calls from San Juan. At 23:23, the Overseas Foreign Air Route Traffic Control Center at Miami heard a routine transmission from NC16002, wherein Linquist reported they were at and had an ETA of 04:03. His message placed the flight about from Miami. Transmissions were heard sporadically throughout the night by Miami, but all were routine.
At 04:13, Linquist reported he was south of Miami. The transmission was not heard at Miami but was monitored at New Orleans, Louisiana, some away, and was relayed to Miami. The accident investigation report issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) said the pilot may have incorrectly reported his position. At this time the plane only had enough fuel for 1 hour and 20 minutes of flying time left.
Miami weather was clear, but the wind had moved from northwest to northeast. The accident investigation report said that Miami transmitted the wind change information, but neither Miami nor New Orleans "was able to contact the flight". It is therefore unknown whether NC16002 received the information. Without this knowledge the aircraft could have drifted off course, which widened the search area to include hills in Cuba, the Everglades and even Gulf of Mexico waters.
On 4 January 1949, two bodies were found south of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It is unknown if this was connected to the missing plane. (Since the last message from the missing DC-3 was heard not in Miami but New Orleans, if the bodies "did" come from the missing plane it could indicate the missing plane actually went down somewhere in the Straits of Florida between Florida and Cuba.)
Nothing further was heard from Linquist and the aircraft has never been found. In subsequent years, researchers into unexplained disappearances have included the flight among others said to have disappeared in what came to be termed the Bermuda Triangle.
A plane similar to the DC-3 has been found by divers in the Bermuda Triangle. It is possible that this is the lost aircraft, but this has not been verified.
Investigation.
In a report released 15 July 1949, the board convening the investigation filed several factors about the aircraft:
As far as human error, the report cited several occurrences:
Because of a lack of wreckage and other information, probable cause for the loss of the aircraft could not be determined.
References.
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