Date:	Friday 18 April 1952
Time:	03:34
Type:	Curtiss C-46F-1-CU Commando
Owner/operator:	Robin Airlines
Registration:	N8404C
MSN:	22466
Year of manufacture:	1945
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney R-2800-75
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 29 / Occupants: 29
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	3 km E of Whittier, CA -   United States of America
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport, AZ (PHX/KPHX)
Destination airport:	Hollywood-Lockheed Air Terminal, CA (BUR/KBUR)
Investigating agency:	CAB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The Curtiss C-46 had been cleared for a straight-in instrument approach. The crew were told to maintain 3000 feet until leaving the Downey marker. The aircraft descended below this altitude and crashed into a hill at 980 feet altitude. At the time of this accident Robin Airlines, Inc., was doing business as North Continent Airlines, although no authorization to change its name had been obtained from the Civil Aeronautics Board.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The action of the pilot in voluntarily descending below the minimum altitude for which he was cleared, and attempting an approach at an altitude too low to clear the terrain."

Air Britain Casualty compendium (pt. 54)
CAB File No. 1-0027

photo (c) Bill Austin; near Whittier, CA; 19 April 1952; (CC:by-sa)

photo (c) Bill Austin; near Whittier, CA; 19 April 1952; (CC:by-sa)

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