Last updated: 1 December 2021
| Status: | Final |
| Date: | Wednesday 7 December 1949 |
| Time: | 17:15 |
| Type: |  Douglas C-47A-1-DL (DC-3) |
| Operator: | California Arrow Airlines |
| Registration: | NC60256 |
| MSN: | 9201 |
| First flight: | 1943 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 7722 |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney R-1830-65 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9 |
| Aircraft damage: | Damaged beyond repair |
| Location: | 10 km (6.3 mls) E of Vallejo, CA ( United States of America)
|
| Phase: | En route (ENR) |
| Nature: | Domestic Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Oakland Municipal Airport, CA (OAK/KOAK), United States of America |
| Sacramento (unknown airport), CA, United States of America |
The flight departed Burbank at 14:20 for Oakland and Sacramento. Following takeoff from Oakland at 16:56, the flight cruised five miles northwest of the Oakland Airport for seven minutes while waiting for receipt of an instrument flight clearance which provided for a cruising altitude of 4,000 feet to Sacramento. The flight then proceeded on course, and at 17:08 reported over the Richmond Radio Range Intersection, 16 miles northwest of Oakland, stating that it would be over the Fairfield Radio Range Station at 17:23. This was the last communication received from the flight. Proceeding along Amber Airway 8, the aircraft began to descend for unknown reasons. The aircraft struck a hill at an elevation of 782 feet or approximately 3,200 feet below the flights assigned cruising altitude.
Probable Cause:
PROBABLE CAUSE: "Failure of the flight to fly at the assigned altitude on an instrument flight plan, which resulted in the aircraft striking a hill obscured by clouds."
Classification:
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain
Sources:
» CAB File No: 1-0132Photos
