Crash of a Boeing 40B-4A near Gorman: 3 killed

Date & Time: Nov 17, 1930
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 40
Operator:
Registration:
NC5340
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
No
Site:
Mountains
Schedule:
Los Angeles – Bakersfield – Fresno – San Jose – San Francisco – Medford – Vancouver – Seattle
MSN:
1036
YOM:
1928
Location:
Gorman
California
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
En route from Bakersfield to Fresno (route CAM 8), the pilot encountered poor weather conditions with snow falls and fog. While cruising at low altitude in limited visibility, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain located in the Tehachapi Mountain Range. The wreckage was found six miles east of Gorman and all three occupants were killed.
Crew:
Flavius A. Donaldson, pilot,
George A. Rogers, mechanic.
Passenger:
Jean Markow.

Crash of a Boeing 40B-4 in Edmonton: 3 killed

Date & Time: Sep 25, 1930
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 40
Operator:
Registration:
CF-AIN
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
No
Site:
City
Schedule:
North Battleford – Edmonton
MSN:
1165
YOM:
1929
Location:
Edmonton
Alberta
Country:
Canada
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
2
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
On final approach to Edmonton Airport in stormy weather, the aircraft went out of control and crashed in the Southesk district. Both passengers and the pilot Pat Holden were killed while no one on the ground was hurt.

Crash of a Boeing 40 in Baker

Date & Time: Aug 22, 1930
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 40
Operator:
Registration:
NC835M
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Postal (mail)
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
MSN:
1159
YOM:
1929
Location:
Baker
Oregon
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
En route, technical problems forced the pilot to attempt an emergency landing. Upon impact, the aircraft flipped over and came to rest, bursting into flames. The pilot escaped unhurt while the aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire.
Probable cause:
Forced landing due to unknown technical failure.

Crash of a Boeing 40B-4 in Moose Jaw

Date & Time: Jun 12, 1930
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 40
Operator:
Registration:
CF-AIO
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Airport (less than 10 km from airport)
MSN:
1166
YOM:
1929
Location:
Moose Jaw
Saskatchewan
Country:
Canada
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
0
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Crashed on landing. All occupants escaped unhurt while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Boeing 40B-4 in San Jose

Date & Time: May 9, 1930
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 40
Operator:
Registration:
NC740K
Flight Phase:
Takeoff (climb)
Flight Type:
Postal (mail)
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Airport (less than 10 km from airport)
MSN:
1147
YOM:
1929
Location:
San Jose
California
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
While taking from San Jose Airport, the aircraft collided with a wagon and crashed near the runway. The pilot was slightly injured and there was no casualty on ground.

Crash of a Boeing 40B in Park City

Date & Time: Mar 11, 1929
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 40
Operator:
Registration:
NC275
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
MSN:
886
YOM:
1927
Location:
Park City
Utah
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
En route, poor weather conditions forced the pilot to attempt an emergency landing. Both occupants were uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Boeing 40B at Offutt AFB

Date & Time: Jan 6, 1929
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 40
Operator:
Registration:
NC289
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Postal (mail)
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Airport (less than 10 km from airport)
MSN:
900
YOM:
1927
Location:
Offutt AFB (Bellevue)
Nebraska
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Upon landing at Offutt AFB, the airplane went out of control and crashed. The pilot, sole on board, was injured.

Crash of a Boeing 40B near Omaha

Date & Time: Dec 23, 1928
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 40
Operator:
Registration:
NC278
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Postal (mail)
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Mountains
MSN:
889
YOM:
1927
Location:
Omaha-Eppley
Nebraska
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The pilot was performing a mail flight. While cruising in the region of Omaha, he encountered poor weather conditions and low visibility due to a heavy snow falls. Too low, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain and crashed. The pilot was seriously injured.

Crash of a Boeing 40C near Canyonville: 1 killed

Date & Time: Oct 2, 1928 at 1000 LT
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 40
Operator:
Registration:
NC5339
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Mountains
Schedule:
Medford – Portland
MSN:
1043
YOM:
1928
Location:
Canyonville
Oregon
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
On the morning of October 2, 1928, Pacific Air Transport pilot Grant Donaldson took off in NC5339 from Medford, Oregon, on his way to Portland with nine pounds of mail and passenger D. P. Donovan, a West Coast drugstore chain owner and a gemstone dealer who carried a satchel of diamonds. An hour into scud-running beneath low-lying clouds, Donaldson heard booming noises and discovered that he was scraping treetops. There was no time to recover. The 40C dove forward “as if it had been a giant scythe,” reported the Roseburg, Oregon News-Review. “One tree, nearly a foot in diameter was cut off about 25 feet from the ground.” Donaldson rushed out of the cockpit as the biplane’s nitrate-doped cotton skin fueled a fire so intense it melted the aircraft’s metal propeller. He fought through the flames to check on his passenger, but saw that Donovan had been killed on impact. Donaldson’s actions left him with severe burns; for the rest of his life he would have a scar tissue circumscription of flight goggles on his face. Bloody and incoherent, Donaldson staggered down to a highway, where a preacher and his family hurriedly drove him to a pharmacy nine miles north, in Canyonville. “The next day the airline went up there and they got the remains of poor Donovan,” says Pemberton. “They picked out what diamonds they could, and they salvaged what they could of the engine.” For years afterward, townspeople hiked up to the crash site to sift for diamonds. (Rumors abound of Canyonville wives who own rings set with diamonds from the crash.) In 1929, they hacksawed the tail section off to use as a nursery school jungle gym.
Source: www.airspacemag.com
Probable cause:
Pilot error.

Crash of a Boeing 40B in Federal Way: 1 killed

Date & Time: Apr 17, 1928
Type of aircraft:
Boeing 40
Operator:
Registration:
NC282
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
MSN:
893
YOM:
1927
Location:
Federal Way
Washington
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
While flying in heavy snow falls, the pilot lost his orientation and the control of the aircraft that crashed in a field in Federal Way. The passenger was killed and the pilot was injured.
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