1974 — Mar 13, Sierra Pacific Airlines flight 802 charter crash into Mt. ~Bishop, CA –all 36

–36 Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). California 1970-1979. N4819C.
–36 Eckert. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” AJFMP, 3/1, Mar 1982, Table 1.
–36 Notable California Aviation Disasters. “The 1970s.” Oct 23, 2008 update.
–36 NTSB. AAR. Sierra Pacific Air…Near Bishop, CA, March 12, 1974, Jan 10, 1975.

Narrative Information

NTSB: “About 2028 on March 13, 1974, Sierra Pacific Airlines, Inc., Charter Flight 802, a Convair 340/440, crashed near Bishop, California. the 36 occupants–32 passengers and 4 crewmembers–were killed. The aircraft was destroyed.

“The flight had been chartered by Wolper Productions, Inc., to transport a movie production crew from Bishop to Burbank, California. The aircraft crashed at the 6,100-foot level into a foothill of the White Mountains, about .5. 2 miles southeast of the Bishop Airport. ‘The last recorded transmission from the flight was at 2024 when the crew advised the Tonapah Flight Service Station that they had departed Bishop were climbing under visual flight rules. The aircraft crashed at the 6,100-foot level into a foothill of the White Mountains, about 5.2 miles southeast the Bishop Airport.

“The National Transportation Safety Board is unable to determine the probable cause of this accident. The reason why the flightcrew did not maintain a safe distance from hazardous terrain during night visual flight conditions could not be established.” (NTSB 1975, 1)

“At 2036, the manager of the Bishop Airport called Tonapah FSS and requested the status of Flight 802 and advised the FSS of an explosion and fire in the White Mountains east of the airport. In view of the circumstances, the FSS specialist assumed that an accident had occurred and initiated accident notification procedures.

“Several persons on the ground saw the aircraft during the last few moments before it crashed. Three of these persons, who were located near the base of the mountains to the east of the airport, stated that they saw the green and white lights of an aircraft proceeding in a southerly direction parallel to the mountain range. They then heard the engines of what they thought to be a large airplane. They stated that the engines maintained a strong, steady, and smooth sound and that the aircraft appeared to be in a gradual climb. They had observed the aircraft for about 1 minute when they saw a burst of flames and heard an explosion.

“No witnesses were found who saw the aircraft immediately after takeoff or during the initial phase of the climbout. One witness, who was about 2 miles southwest of the airport, stated that he heard a large, twin engine aircraft pass nearly overhead just before the accident, but that he did not see the aircraft during this time. All of the witnesses agreed that it was an extremely dark night, and that there was no moon.” (NTSB 1975, 2-4)

“The aircraft struck the north slope of a mountain ridge about 5.2 statute miles southeast of the Bishop Airport and at an elevation of 6,100 feet. The top of the ridge, which runs generally east to west, is 6,280 feet. Depressions in the earth made by the right wing leading edge and the right propeller and engine showed that, at impact, the aircraft was on a heading of 175 [degrees] magnetic and in a 25 [degree] right wing-down attitude. The wreckage was scattered over an area 1,083 feet long and 120 feet wide. Parts of all major sections of the aircraft structure and flight control surfaces were found in the wreckage area…The breakup of the aircraft was extensive in all wing and fuselage areas. Portions of the fuselage main body, center wing section, and cockpit were consumed by ground fire. (NTSB 1975, 8)

“There was no evidence of any failure or malfunction of aircraft structure, systems, or components. Examination of’ the powerplants showed that they were developing high power at impact….

“…the Safety Board believes that the flight departed between 2022 and 2023. The records further show that the FSS specialist acknowledged receipt of Flight 802’s IFR clearance from Oakland Center at 2028:40 and then tried to contact the flight. Since the specialist was unable to contact the flight at that time, and in the absence of any firm evidence to confirm the time of the crash, it is reasonable to assume that the accident occurred before the specialist attempted to contact the flight at 2028. Thus, the aircraft could have been airborne for no more than 6 minutes (2022 to 2028).” (NTSB 1975, 13)

“…it is difficult to conceive of any problem with the aircraft that would have caused the flight to deviate from a safe flightpath over the valley and into the mountainous area where it crashed. In fact, it is difficult to envision any type of an aircraft emergency, other than a complete loss of control, that would have precluded the crew from turning toward the town of Bishop and the lower terrain of the valley.

“The mountains, which are 3 miles east of the Bishop Airport, are about 1,000 feet above the airport elevation. Beyond 3 miles, the terrain rises rapidly to 11,000 feet. It is, therefore, difficult to understand why the flight would have been so far to the east and in the mountainous area. This terrain, for all practical purposes, is void of ground lights, especially beyond 2 nmi from the airport. Although the actual visibility was 30 miles, witnesses reported that it was an extremely dark, moonless night and that the mountains to the east could not be seen against the sky. Thus, unless a pilot was thoroughly familiar with the terrain features in the area, he would not be able to see the mountains or to determine his proximity to them even at close range….

“The captain had flown into Bishop Airport eight times within the previous 6 months; three of these flights were at night. The first officer had flown into Bishop five times in the previous 3 months. From this experience, and the fact that they had just flown into Bishop about 1 hour before the accident in daylight hours, it must be concluded that both the captain and the first officer were at least aware of the hazardous terrain to the east of the airport.” (NTSB 1975, 14-15)

Notable California Aviation Disasters: “Date / Time: Wednesday, March 13, 1974 / 8:28 p.m.
“Operator / Flight No.: Sierra Pacific Airlines / Flight 802
“Location: Near Bishop, Calif.

“Details and Probable Cause: Chartered by Wolper Productions, Inc., the propeller-driven twin-engine Convair CV-440 aircraft (N4819C) was flying from Bishop to Burbank, carrying a television production crew that had been in the Bishop area for several days doing location shooting for a segment of the ABC television series “Primal Man.”

“Shortly after its nighttime takeoff, the airliner crashed at 6,100 feet into the Poleta Ridge foothills of the White Mountains, 5.2 miles southeast of Bishop, and exploded in flames. All four members of the flight crew and the 32 passengers on board — the TV production’s writer/director, cameramen, actors, stuntmen and crew technicians — were killed in the crash….

“The aircraft was flying in VFR (visual flight rules) conditions and visibility at the time was excellent, although the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) noted that the terrain in the vicinity of the crash was void of ground lights, with witnesses reporting that the dark mountains were not visible against an equally dark sky.

“However, the board also noted that the pilot and first officer were familiar with Bishop Airport and the nearby hazardous terrain, having flown in and out of the airfield a number of times in the months preceding the accident, including several times at night, without incident.

“There was also a pilot-trainee in the cockpit, and therefore this ‘instructional relationship’ could possibly have distracted the captain from adequately monitoring the plane’s flight path during its climb-out phase.

“The NTSB could find no indication of mechanical failure, concluding that ‘it is difficult to conceive of any problem with the aircraft that would have caused the flight to deviate from a safe flight path over the valley and into the mountainous area where it crashed.’ Thus, the exact cause of the crash remains undetermined. The worst air disaster in Inyo County history. (Notable California Aviation Disasters. “The 1970s.” Oct 23, 2008 update.)

Sources

Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). California 1970-1979. Accessed 3/3/2009 at: http://www.baaa-acro.com/Pays/Etats-Unis/Californie-1970-1979.htm

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.

Notable California Aviation Disasters. “The 1970s.” Oct 23, 2008 update. Accessed 10/18/2009 at: http://www.jaydeebee1.com/crash70s.html

National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Sierra Pacific Airlines, Inc. Convair 340/440, N4819C, Near Bishop, California, March 12, 1974 (NTSB-AAR-75-1). Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted January 10, 1975, 33 pages. Accessed 12-19-2021 at: http://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR75-01.pdf