• 1948 •

Latest entry - added 10 December 2005
Date / Time: Wednesday, January 28, 1948 / 10:50 a.m.
Operator / Flight No.: Airline Transport Carriers, Inc. / Non-Scheduled Charter
Location: Los Gatos Canyon, near Coalinga, Calif.

Details and Probable Cause:   Based at the Lockheed Air Terminal in Burbank, Airline Transport Carriers, Inc., was a non-scheduled air carrier operating under a letter of registration issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and an operating certificate issued by the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA).

Early on the morning of January 28, a crew of three -- pilot Francis "Frank" Atkinson, 30, stewardess Lillian "Bobbie" Atkinson, 28 (Captain Atkinson's wife), and copilot Marion Harlow Ewing, 33 -- were contracted to fly company aircraft NC79055, a Douglas DC-3, from Burbank to Oakland.   Upon arrival at Oakland, the plane, certificated to carry up to 32 passengers, was to take aboard 28 Mexican Nationals and a United States Immigration Department official and then fly the group to Imperial County Airport near El Centro, California, where the Mexican Nationals were to be processed at a deportation facility.

However, the flight crew mistakenly boarded the wrong company aircraft and departed Burbank for Oakland at 6:46 a.m. with aircraft NC36480, a similar twin-engine Douglas DC-3 (actually a former military version of the DC-3, a Douglas C-47B-40-DK Skytrain transport that had been converted to post-war passenger use).   This plane was certificated to carry only 26 passengers and was seven hours overdue for a required 100-hour maintenance inspection.

The flight from Burbank to Oakland was routine, but at some point during the flight Captain Atkinson apparently realized that he was flying the wrong airplane for he requested his landing instructions from the Oakland control tower using the appropriate call numbers for the aircraft being utilized -- 480.   The plane landed at Oakland at 8:49 a.m.

Since this particular DC-3 could only seat 26 passengers, and 29 were boarding at Oakland, this left three of the Mexican Nationals without seats in which they could be secured with safety belts.   According to the statement of a second United States Immigration Department employee who assisted with the passenger loading process, three pieces of unsecured luggage were present in the passenger cabin aisle at the time of the plane's departure, and "it is probable" that the three passengers were seated on this luggage after the aircraft taxied away from the loading area.   Total weight for the plane upon departure was 67 pounds over the maximum allowable weight.

Just prior to departure, the captain received a message from his company, relayed through the control tower, that he was to return directly to Burbank.   Atkinson's acknowledgment of this message was the last communication received from the flight, and the plane departed Oakland at approximately 9:30 a.m.

Over an hour and 20 minutes later the DC-3 was observed by various people on the ground in the vicinity of Coalinga cruising at an estimated altitude of 5,000 feet and emitting a stream of white smoke or vapor, 150 to 200 feet long, from its left (port) engine.

Moments later, flames were seen erupting from the left engine and after several more seconds the entire left wing and engine fell from the aircraft.   Eyewitness Frank V. Johnson, a foreman overseeing a gang of road camp workers, told the Associated Press that the plane "appeared to explode and a wing fell off" before it plummeted to the ground.   An estimated nine or ten occupants of the plane appeared to jump or fall from the aircraft before it hit the earth, he added.

The DC-3 plunged out of control into Los Gatos Canyon at the southern edge of the Diablo mountain range in western Fresno County and burst into flames.   All 29 passengers and three crew members were killed in the crash.   Twelve of the Mexican Nationals were never positively identified.

Investigators probing the wreckage discovered that the left-engine fuel pump contained a defective gasket that allowed a significant amount of fuel to be sprayed from the pump.   Since this defect was only detected after the pump was removed from the wreckage and disassembled, officials were not sure whether it would have been discovered during the course of the (overdue) routine 100-hour maintenance inspection.

It was noted by investigators in their final accident report that Airline Transport Carriers records disclosed that the airline was performing the required maintenance on its planes.   But the officials noted that had the company established some sort of alert or notice -- other than the aircraft log itself -- that the airplane was overdue for inspection and, therefore, "out of commission," the crew's error of taking the wrong aircraft might not have occurred.

As to the actual cause of the accident, investigators ultimately came to the conclusion that fuel, escaping from the defective gasket within the fuel pump, was ignited by an engine source, possibly the engine's exhaust stack.   The inflight fire then spread into the wing panel and burned through the main spar of the left wing, causing the wing to separate and fall from the aircraft.

The investigators' report also concluded that "the error of the crew in taking he wrong airplane and their overloading the aircraft with 3 passengers, who were not provided with safety belts, certainly indicated laxness and poor judgment on the part of the crew, but these considerations did not materially contribute to the cause of the accident."

Famed folk singer Woody Guthrie's song "Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportee)" is based on this aviation disaster.   Guthrie was reportedly outraged after hearing a radio news account of the accident in which the victims were referred to as "just deportees."

Fatalities: 32 -- 3 crew members; 29 passengers.

From

members.aol.com/jaydeebee1/aviation.html