1929 — Sep 3, 1st lightning-hit US Plane Crash?, Transcontinental Air, Mt. Taylor, NM– 8
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 2-7-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/-
–8 Aviation Safety Network. Database, 1929. Transcontinental Air Transport, 3 Sept. 1929.
–8 Rash. “When Lightning Strikes,” Aero Safety World, June 2010, p. 20.
Narrative Information
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. Database, 1929:
“Date: Tuesday 3 September 1929
“Time: 11:01
“Type: Ford 5-AT-B Tri-Motor
“Owner/operator: Transcontinental Air Transport – TAT
“Registration: NC9649
“MSN: 5-AT-020
“Year of manufacture: 1929
….
“Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8
“Other fatalities: 0
“Aircraft damage: Destroyed, written off
“Category: Accident
“Location: 42 km S of Gallup, NM – USA
“Phase: En route
“Nature: Passenger – Scheduled
“Departure airport: Albuquerque International Airport, NM
“Destination airport: Los Angeles (unknown airport), CA
“Narrative: The Ford 5-AT-B Tri-Motor, named “City of San Francisco”, struck Mount
Taylor during flight in a thunderstorm.
Rash: “The Sept. 3, 1929, crash of a Transcontinental Air Transport Ford Tri-Motor named the “City of San Francisco” usually is cited as the first heavier-than-air aircraft destroyed by a lightning strike. All eight occupants died when the airplane struck the ground near Mt. Taylor, New Mexico, U.S., on the Albuquerque-to-Los Angeles leg of a cross-country journey divided into airplane and train segments.” (Rash 2010, 20; citing Hopkins, George E. “Transcontinental Air Transport Inc.” American Heritage Magazine, Volume 27 (December 1975).)
Sources
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. Database, 1929. Transcontinental Air Transport, 3 September 1929. Accessed 2-7-2025 at: https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/342523
Rash, Clarence E. “When Lightning Strikes: Aircraft Designs Incorporate Systems to Protect Against Direct and Indirect Damage,” Aero Safety World, June 2010, pp. 18-23. Accessed at: http://flightsafety.org/asw/jun10/asw_jun10_p18-23.pdf