1966 — Oct 1, West Coast Air 956 Crash, Salmon Mountain, near Wemme, OR — 18
— 18 AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 10011966.
— 18 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. West Coast Airlines 956, 01 Oct 1966.
— 18 NTSB. AAR. West Coast Airlines, Inc., DC-9, N9101, Near Wemme, Oregon.
— 18 NTSB Identification DCA67A0003, West Coast Airlines, Inc., October 01, 1966.
Narrative Information
National Transportation Safety Board: “About 2010 P.d.t., October 1, 1966, West Coast Airlines, Inc., DC-9, N9101, operating as Flight 956, crashed approximately 5.5 miles south of Wemme, Oregon. Impact occurred at the 3,830-foot level on the eastern slope of Salmon Mountain [Mt. Hood National Forest]. The 13 passengers and five crewmembers were fatally injured. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire….
“All of the extremities of the aircraft were accounted for, and no evidence of inflight structural failure, fire or explosion was found.” (NTSB. AAR, p. 9.)
“AT 2007:38 an abrupt airspeed decrease from 290 to 266 knots was recorded, just prior to the turn toward 300 degrees. Since this vector turned the flight toward the Portland terminal area, it is believed that the speed reduction was indicative of the crew’s awareness of their geographic location and their proximity to the area of speed restriction within 30 miles of a terminal area. At 2008:38 the flight began a transition from the descent to level flight. The transition was completed in ten seconds and the flight continued in a level turn until 2009:26, when an abrupt climb began. This was two seconds before impact.” (NTSB. AAR, p. 14.)
“The Board determines the probable cause of this accident was the descent of the aircraft below its clearance limit and below that of surrounding obstructing terrain, but the Board has been unable to determine the cause of such descent.” (NTSB. AAR. West Coast…Wemme, OR, p.18)
Aviation Safety Network: “Flight 956, regularly scheduled from San Francisco to Seattle with intermediate stops at Eugene and Portland, was being vectored for an approach to Portland at the time of the accident. The crew had acknowledged descent instructions from 14,000 to 9,000 feet, and was turning to an assigned heading of 300 degrees when radar contact was lost.
“West Coast Flight 956 departed San Francisco (SFO) at 18:44 for a flight to Eugene (EUG), Portland (PDX) and Seattle (SEA). The brand new aircraft, which had been delivered to West Coast Airlines just 2 weeks earlier, arrived at Eugene at 19:34 and took off again 18 minutes later. At 20:04 the crew were cleared to descend from the cruising altitude of FL140 to 9000 feet. While turning to heading 300deg, the aircraft descended below the clearance altitude and impacted the wooded eastern slope of Salmon Mountain at the 3830 feet level. The aircraft attitude was 30 degrees right bank, in a 3-4 degree climbing flight path on a heading of 265 degrees. (ASN. Accident Description. West Coast Airlines 956, 01 Oct 1966.)
Sources
AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. “Accident Synopsis 10011966.” Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=10011966®=N9101&airline=West+Coast+Airlines
Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. West Coast Airlines Flight 956, 01 Oct 1966. Flight Safety Foundation. Accessed 3-1-2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19661001-1
National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. West Coast Airlines, Inc., DC-9, N9101, Near Wemme, Oregon. Washington, DC: NTSB (File No. 1-0015), Dec 11, 1967, 21 pp. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR67-AF.pdf