Date: | Tuesday 24 December 1946 |
Time: | 19:19 |
Type: | Douglas DC-3A |
Owner/operator: | Western Air Lines |
Registration: | NC45395 |
MSN: | 11642 |
Year of manufacture: | 1943 |
Total airframe hrs: | 3699 hours |
Engine model: | Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S1C3-G |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 12 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
Category: | Accident |
Location: | 80 km E of San Diego, CA -
United States of America
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
Departure airport: | Holtville Airport, CA |
Destination airport: | San Diego International Airport, CA (SAN/KSAN) |
Investigating agency: | CAB |
Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:The flight departed Holtville at 18:50 and was cleared to San Diego on a contact flight plan to cruise at 7,000 feet. En route at 19:09, the flight made a position report to the company radio at Los Angeles advising that it was over Mt. Laguna at 7,000 feet. Ten minutes later the crew had initiated a descent. At an altitude of 6120 feet the DC-3 flew into the east slope of Cuyapaipe Mountain, 75 feet below the crest. The wreckage was found three days later.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the conduct of the flight at an altitude which would not clear obstructions, due to an error by the pilot in determining his position with respect to Laguna Mountain."
Accident investigation:
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| |
Investigating agency: | CAB |
Report number: | final report |
Status: | Investigation completed |
Duration: | |
Download report: | Final report |
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Sources:
Air Britain Casualty compendium (pt. 45)
CAB File No. 5565-46
Images:
photo (c) Olivia Taylor; San Diego, CA; 30 December 1946
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |