San Francisco

Wings West Airlines Flight 628, a commuter flight, departed Los Angeles for San Francisco, with scheduled en route stops at Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo. At 11:10, Flight 628 left the gate at San Luis Obispo. The weather at the time was essentially clear and the visibility was 15 miles. At 11:16, after taking off from runway 29, Flight 628 called the Los Angeles ARTCC and reported that it was climbing through 2,700 feet 'IFR to San Francisco.' At 11:17:23, the Los Angeles ARTCC’s radar controller cleared Flight 628 to the San Francisco airport, as filed, to climb and maintain 7,000 feet. At 11:17:38 the aircraft collided head-on with Rockwell Commander N112SM at 3,400 feet. This single-engined aircraft had departed Paso Robles Airport on a training flight with two pilots on board. Nll2SM was flying in visual meteorological conditions and under VFR in the vicinity of the San Luis Obispo Airport just before the collision.

While descending to San Francisco Airport, the nose gear could not be lowered and remained stuck in its wheel well. Following a normal approach, the airplane landed on its main undercarriage then slid on its nose for few hundred yards before coming to rest. All 133 occupants were evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Few minutes after takeoff from Provo Airport, while climbing in marginal weather conditions and limited visibility, the twin engine airplane struck the slope of a mountain located near Spanish Fork, few miles southeast of Provo. The wreckage was found four days later, on January 13. All five occupants were killed.

At liftoff, the twin engine airplane stalled and crashed in flames by the runway. The aircraft was destroyed and both pilots were killed.

About 0138:28 m.s.t. on December 18, 1977, a United Airlines, Inc., DC-8F-54 cargo aircraft, operating as Flight 2860, crashed into a mountain in the Wasatch Range near Kaysville, Utah. The three flightcrew members, the only persons aboard the aircraft, were killed, and the aircraft was destroyed. Flight 2860 encountered electrical system problems during its descent and approach to the Salt Lake City Airport. The flight requested a holding clearance which was given by the approach controller and accepted by the flight crew. The flight then requested and received clearance to leave the approach control frequency for a "little minute" to communicate with company maintenance. Flight 2860 was absent from the Approach control frequency for 7 1/2 minutes. During that time, the flight entered an area near hazardous terrain. The approach controller recognized Flight 2860's predicament but was unable to contact the flight. When flight 2860 returned to approach control frequency, the controller told the flight that it was too close to terrain on its right and to make a left turn. After the controller repeated the instructions, the flight began a left turn and about 15 seconds later the controller told the flight to climb immediately to 8,000 feet. Eleven seconds later, the flight reported that it was climbing from 6,000 feet to 8,000 feet. The flight crashed into a 7,665-foot mountain near the 7,200-foot level. The aircraft was destroyed and all three crew members were killed.

On approach to Modesto City-County Airport, both engines failed simultaneously. The pilot attempted an emergency landing on a highway when the airplane struck an automobile and crashed. Both occupants on board the aircraft were slightly injured while three people were killed in the car.

The airplane was completing a cargo flight from San Francisco to Deadhorse with an intermediate stop in Fairbanks, carrying a crew of three and 17,000 liters of fuel. After touchdown on a gravel runway covered by snow and ice, control was lost. The airplane veered off runway to the left, contacted an embankment then came to rest on a road. All three crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was partially destroyed by fire.

After a special VFR flight plan was cancelled out of Hamilton AFB control zone, the crew started the descent to Novato-Gnoss Field under VFR mode in adverse weather conditions. On approach, the twin engine airplane struck the slope of a mountain and was destroyed. The wreckage was found two days later and both pilots were killed. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were poor with low ceiling, rain falls and fog.

During the takeoff roll on runway 01R at San Francisco Airport, after the V1 speed was reach, the crew noticed vibrations while the aircraft started to slow down. The captain decided to abort the takeoff but unable to stop within the remaining runway, the airplane overran, lost its nose gear and engine n°2 before coming to rest in the San Francisco Bay, broken in two. All three crew members were evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On a ferry flight from San Francisco to Hilo, while cruising by night, all four engines stopped simultaneously. The crew informed ATC about his position and attempted to ditch the aircraft that came to rest in water about 219 miles off the Hawaiian coast. Both pilots were rescued and evacuated while the aircraft sank and was lost.