| 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
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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