1960 — July 11, US Air Mission Colombia USAF crash, Mt Pichincha, Ecuador–all 18/US 12

–18 ASN. Accident description. US Mission Douglas C-47B-50-DK Skytrain, Ecuador, 7-11-60
–18 Baugher. 1945 USAAF Serial Numbers. Sep 21, 2011 revision.
–18 Dunkirk Observer, NY. “Identity of 12 Dead Americans on Plane Revealed.” 7-14-1960, 1.
–18 Eckert. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” AJFMP, 3/1, Mar 1982, Table 1.
–18 Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 80.
–18 Pacific Stars and Stripes, Tokyo. “C-47 Crash in Ecuador Kills 18.” 7-13-1960, p. 23.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network:
“….Fatalities 18 / Occupants: 18….
“Location 12 km (7.5 mls) W of Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport (UIO) (Ecuador)….
“Departure airport: Bogota-Eldorado Airport (BOG/SKBO), Colombia
“Destination airport: Quito-Mariscal Sucre Airport…Ecuador
“Narrative: The DC-3 crashed into Pichincha Volcano, which has en elevation of 4,784 metres (15,696 ft).”

(ASN. Accident description. US Mission Douglas C-47B-50-DK Skytrain, Ecuador, 7-11-1960. 1-21-2010 update.)

Baugher: “Douglas C-47B-50-DK Skytrain….1109 (c/n 17112/34379) struck Mt Pichincha, Ecuador Jul 11, 1960. 18 killed.” (Baugher. 1945 USAAF Serial Numbers. Sep 21, 2011 rev.)

Gero: “Date: 11 July 1960 (C. 11:45)
“Location: Near Quito, Ecuador
“Operator: US Air Force
“Aircraft type: Douglas C-47E (45-1109A)

“Its passengers comprised mostly of American military dependents and Ecuadorean civilians, the twin-engine transport crashed and burned on Mount Pichincha about 10 miles (15km) west of the Ecuadorean capital, where it was to have landed during a flight from Bogota, Colombia. All 18 persons aboard, including four US Air Force crewmen, were killed. The aircraft struck the volcano at an approximate elevation of 13,000ft (4,000m). Although the meteorological conditions in the area were generally good, the Pichincha Pass was heavily overcast, with one patch of rain, and the mountain itself cloud-obscured. Although the Air Force did not disclose its findings as to the probable cause of the crash, the investigative report did note, significantly, that at the time the crew had been operating under visual flight rules.” (Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. 1999, p. 80.)

Newspapers

July 12: “Quito, Ecuador (UPI) — A U.S. military transport plane carrying 16 Americans [sic], including at least six children, and two Ecuadorians disappeared on a flight from Colombia Monday night and was feared to have gone down in the rugged mountains north of here.” (Daily News-Texan, Grand Prairie, TX. “Our World Today.” 7-12-1960, p. 1.)

July 13: “Bogota, Colombia (UPI) – The American Embassy announced Wednesday that the wreckage of the U.S. military transport plane lost Monday night between Bogota and Quito, Ecuador, was found near Pichincha Volcano north of the Ecuadorian capital. There were no survivors. The embassy said the C-47 belonging to the U.S. Air Mission in Colombia was en route to Quito from Bogota.

“The volcano where the plane crashed is 15,423 feet high in Pichincha Province six miles northwest of Quito.

Washington (AP) — The Air Force Tuesday identified 18 persons aboard a C-57 [47] military transport that crashed on a flight from Bogota to Quito, Ecuador, Monday. The list of missing included

Air Force LtC. James E. Sever, wife, Dorothea, and a daughter, Julianne, of Norfolk, Va.;
Air Force Major Wylie C. Stone, Wylie, Tex.;
Air Force M/Sgt. Charles E. Horning, Ottawa, Ohio;
Air Force M/Sgt. Samuel Kittle, Bangor, Pa.;
Army Lt. Col. Wesley T. Laney, his wife and their daughter, Mary, of Daytona Beach, Fl.
Army CWO William B. Lynch and his wife, Marina, of Milford Del.;
Ecuadorian Vice Consul Jorge Leon, his wife and three children, and
Jaime Saurez, identified only as an adviser to the government of Ecuador, and
John Charles Griner, a child. Young Griner is the son of M/Sgt. Zane Griner of the Air Force mission in Bogota, home address Greentown, Ind.”

(Pacific Stars and Stripes, Tokyo. “C-47 Crash in Ecuador Kills 18.” 7-13-1960, p. 23.)

July 14: “Quito, Ecuador (UPI) – The bodies of 12 Americans killed in the crash Monday of a U.S. C-47 military transport were expected to arrive in Quito today.

“Six Ecuadoreans also died in the crash, which occurred in rugged mountain country 20 miles from here as the plane neared the end of its flight from Bogota, Colombia. Search teams discovered the wreckage Wednesday. The American dead, including servicemen and their dependents, were:

Col. James E. Sever of Norfolk, Va., the pilot and an air attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota; his wife, Dorothy, and daughter, Julia;
Master Sgts. Samuel Nittle of Bangor, Maine and
Charles Horning of Ottawa, Ohio;
William B. Lynch of Milford, Del., and his wife Marian;
John Gremes, 18, a student, of Greentown, Ind.;
Col. Westley Laney of Daytona Beach, Fla., his wife, Mary, and daughter, Mary; and
Maj. Williy C. Stone, co-pilot, of Wylie, Tex.”

(Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Identity of 12 Dead Americans on Plane Revealed.” 7-14-1960, p. 1.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network. Accident description. US Mission Douglas C-47B-50-DK Skytrain, Ecuador, 7-11-1960. 1-21-2010 update at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19600711-0

Baugher, Joseph F. 1945 USAAF Serial Numbers. 9-21-2011 revision. Accessed 1-1-2012 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1945.html

Daily News-Texan, Grand Prairie, TX. “Our World Today [US Military Transport Plane Crash, Ecuador].” 7-12-1960, 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=130528570

Dunkirk Evening Observer, NY. “Identity of 12 Dead Americans on Plane Revealed.” 7-14-1960, 1. At: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=130415410

Eckert, William G. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 1982, Table 1.

Gero, David. Military Aviation Disasters: Significant Losses Since 1908. UK and Newbury Park, CA: Patrick Stephens Limited, an imprint of Hayes Publishing, 1999.

Pacific Stars and Stripes, Tokyo, Japan. “C-47 Crash in Ecuador Kills 18.” 7-13-1960, p. 23. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=133184043