1953 — Sep 1, Regina Cargo Airlines (military contract) flies into mt. ridge ~Vail, WA– 21
–21 AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 09011953.
–21 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Regina Cargo Airlines, 01 Sep 1953.
–21 CAB. AIR. Regina Cargo Airlines, Inc. – Near Vail, Washington, September 1, 1953.
— 2 crew
–19 military passengers
–21 Eckert. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” AJFM&P, 3/1, March 1982, Table 1.
Narrative Information
Civil Aeronautics Board: “A Douglas DC-3, N 19941, owned and operated by Regina Cargo Airlines, Inc., crashed 12 miles southeast of Vail, Washington (about 26 miles from McChord Air Force Base, Tacoma, Washington), between 1830 and 1900, September 1, 1953. The two pilots and 19 military passengers were killed. The aircraft was demolished by impact and subsequent fire; the site of the accident was the south side of a 3,000-foot timbered ridge at approximately 2,600 feet MSL.
“Regina Cargo Airlines, Inc., an irregular air carrier, was operating this flight as a Commercial Air Movement from Fort Ord, Monterey, California, to McChord.
“The aircraft [with 2 crew]… and 19 military passengers, departed Monterey, California, at 1408, September 1, 1953, on a flight… for McChord Air Force Base…. At Portland, at 1820, after requesting and receiving weather for Portland, Toledo, Washington, and McChord, the flight cancelled its IFR flight plan, advising that the trip would be completed VFR with an estimated time of arrival over Toledo at 1842. This was the last radio contact with the flight and there are no known witnesses to the rest of the flight or the crash. Search was started shortly after the flight became overdue at McChord. The crash was heard by a workman about a half mile away on the opposite side of a ridge at a time he estimated to be between 1830 and 1900. He did not associate this sound with an aircraft until hearing a news broadcast the next morning, when he investigated and located the wreckage….
“An Air Force pilot was flying a small civil aircraft northbound from Eugene, Oregon, about 100 miles south of Portland, to Tacoma at about the time of this accident. Actually he passed over a point about 15 miles west of the accident site at about 1800, about 45 minutes before the accident. He described the weather in the direction of the site as fog and showers on the hilltops. This pilot was well qualified and he was familiar with the terrain near McChord Air Force Base. He offered the opinion that visual flight from the crash site to McChord would not have been possible at that time. His flight was entirely visual and he was able to see the ground at all times from his altitude of about 1,000 feet MSL. However, because of the low ceiling and visibility he landed at an airport a few miles to the west of where he had intended to land, a small airport near McChord. The ground witness who heard the noise of impact described the weather at the time as rain with clouds on the trees.
“There appears to have been no engine malfunctioning or fire in flight and no structural failure prior to impact, nor did the crew report any difficulty. All aircraft components were found or accounted for. The cockpit area was so extensively damaged that no instrument, including the altimeters, could be read. There appears to be no factor entering into this accident other than an attempt to fly visually at too low an altitude during instrument weather. Between Toledo, which was about 16 miles south of the crash site, and McChord, about 26 miles ahead of it, the ground on the airway is relatively low, except at the crash site. There a ridge of high land projects westward from much higher land to the east, and not only extends into the airway, but crosses it. It was close to the summit of this ridge where the airplane struck.
“A logical surmise, therefore, as to just what caused the pilot to be so low is that he must have believed himself to be somewhat closer to his destination than he actually was, and was attempting to fly visually in intermittent instrument conditions. Had he been a few miles farther to the north, he could have continued level or even descending flight to McChord without encountering any obstruction. At the time that the airplane struck, it is highly likely that the hillside was entirely obscured by cloud, so that it would have been impossible to fly by visual reference. Moreover, Captain Jones did not ask for a change of flight plan back to an assigned instrument altitude which would have allowed the flight to proceed safely.
“Furthermore, had the captain referred to the aeronautical charts, which were on board and readily available prior to or at the time the flight plan was changed to VFR, he would have had knowledge of the height of the terrain and any prominent elevations between Portland and Tacoma, particularly beyond Toledo. Either Captain Jones did not refer to those charts or he relied upon his knowledge of the terrain, possibly believing that he was beyond the ridge….
“The Board finds that the probable cause of this accident was the pilots attempt to continue flight under the provisions of Visual Flight Rules during instrument conditions.” (CAB. AIR. Regina Cargo Airlines, Inc. – Near Vail, Washington, September 1, 1953.)
Sources
AirDisaster.Com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 09011953. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=09011953®=N19941&airline=Regina+Cargo+Airlines
Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Regina Cargo Airlines, 01 Sep 1953. Accessed 2/19/2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19530901-1
Civil Aeronautics Board. Accident Investigation Report. Regina Cargo Airlines, Inc. – Near Vail, Washington, September 1, 1953. Washington, DC: CAB, January 22, 1954, 5 pages. At: http://dotlibrary1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?file&fn=8&name=*P%3A%5CDOT%5Cairplane%20accidents%5Cwebsearch%5C010153.pdf
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.