Spokane

On approach to Lewiston Airport, Idaho, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions and decided to divert to Pullman-Moscow Airport. This alternate airport was closed to traffic due to poor weather conditions as well. On approach in snow falls, the pilot failed to realize his altitude was insufficient when the airplane hit a ridge located half a mile north of the airport. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot, sole on board, was killed.

On approach to Cody Airport, the pilot failed to realize his altitude was too low when the twin engine airplane struck trees and crashed in flames on a mountain located few miles from the airfield. The wreckage was found a day later and all four occupants have been killed.

On approach to Walla Walla Airport by night, the pilot encountered limited visibility due to fog. He descended below the MDA when the twin engine airplane struck the ground and crashed short of runway threshold. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot, sole on board, was killed.

On a night flight from Hillsboro to Spokane, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions with low ceiling, freezing rain and a visibility limited to 3 miles. Despite the situation, he decided to continue under VFR mode when few minutes later, he lost control of the airplane that crashed near Carson. The wreckage was found three days later. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed.

Shortly after takeoff from runway 30 at Hamilton AFB (Novato, CA), the crew was cleared to climb at his discretion, following heading 360 till 2,600 feet then heading 340. Few seconds later, the airplane struck trees and crashed on a mountain slope located eight miles from the airbase. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. A passenger was seriously injured while 13 other occupants were killed. The crew from the 26th Division was completing a flight to Spokane, Washington. At the time of the accident, weather conditions were considered as good with three cloud layers at 900, 15,000 and 25,000 feet, a visibility of about 8 miles and a light wind from 340 at 2 knots.

Shortly after takeoff from Pasco-Tri-Cities Airport, while in initial climb, the airplane adopted a high angle of attack and nose high attitude. It stalled then crashed in a huge explosion near the airport, killing both pilots.

West Coast Airlines Flight 794 left Spokane, WA at 22:38 hours on a scheduled international flight to Calgary. The route flown was Spokane direct to Cranbrook. British Columbia. thence via Blue 3 to Calgary. At 23:33 hours Flight 794 reported to Calgary Terminal Control at 17 000 feet. The flight was then cleared to the Calgary VOR station at 13000 feet and requested to report by the Dyson Inter section. This was acknowledged and on request the latest Calgary weather was provided to the flight together with the altimeter setting (30.07 in Hg) and the runway to be used (28). Flight 794 reported by Dyson at 23:38 and was cleared to maintain 10000 feet. They were offered and accepted radar vectors to the localizer serving runway 28 and were then cleared for an approach. The flight was given a vector of 040 and advised it was south of the VOR station. At 23:46 hours the flight was advised it was 14 miles south of the localizer. Following successive vectors of 350° and 310° the flight was advised at 23:51 hours it was 1-1/2 miles south of the localizer and clearance was issued for a straight-in approach on interception of the localizer. Thirty-three seconds later the flight was informed it was 2 miles from the outer marker intersection and then at 2352 hours that it was over the outer marker intersection at which time it was requested to call the control tower. The flight called the control tower and reported over the intersection following which it was cleared to land on runway 28 and provided with wind information. An acknowledgement of this at 23:52 hours was the last transmission from the aircraft. It was determined subsequently that the aircraft struck the ground about 8000 feet before the threshold of runway 28 and 420 feet to the right of the centreline of that runway. It slid for a distance of about 800 feet before coming to rest. At the time of impact the aircraft was approximately in a 5° nose-down attitude. Four occupants were slightly injured while 11 others were unhurt. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On October 28, 1960, at 1139 m. s. t., a Douglas C-54A-DC, N 48762, operated by Northwest Airlines, Inc., as Flight 104, crashed and burned approximately 13 nautical miles northwest of the Missoula, Montana Airport. The captain, first officer, two hostesses and all eight passengers died in the crash. The flight took off from Spokane, Washington, on an instrument flight plan. En route radio reports were routine and indicated the flight was on schedule, and in no difficulty. The aircraft was observed from the ground flying on course toward Missoula in and along the Clark Fork Valley within six nautical miles west of the scene of the crash. The engines were running and the aircraft was descending as if on an approach to a landing. As the aircraft descended deeper into the valley, flight visibility became restricted by light snow showers, and the tops of the mountains surrounding the valley were obscured by the overcast. The aircraft entered a steep left banking turn and the nose was raised in an apparent attempt to turn and climb out through an intersecting valley; however, the aircraft continued to sink toward the ground, rolled to the left and crashed inverted. The Board believes the accident was caused by the failure of the pilot to continue in accordance with his IFR flight plan by attempting a VFR approach during instrument weather conditions.

The flight departed Washington National Airport, Washington, D. C., at 0007 EST, April 13, with 12 passengers and crew consisting of Captain L. T. Brannan, Copilot O. T. Thorson, and Stewardess A. Long. At Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 10 additional passengers plus relief crew Captain A. J. Lerette and Copilot W. E. Harshman boarded the aircraft. These pilots were deadheading to Fargo, North Dakota, where they were to relieve the other pilots. The destination for all passengers was Seattle, Washington. The flight stopped at Cleveland, Ohio, for fuel and oil and arrived at Chicago at 0735 CST. Shortly after takeoff at Chicago, the flight returned owing to rough operation of the left engine. The left magneto of this engine was replaced by a spare carried on the aircraft and the flight again departed at 1215 CST for Minneapolis, made a fuel stop there, and arrived at Fargo, North Dakota, at 16140 CST. Captain Brannan and Copilot Thorson left the flight at this point. One of the relief pilots inquired about the availability of an engine mechanic, stating that one of the engines was spitting and coughing. When he was told it would take about 15 minutes to get a mechanic, he said to disregard it. The left engine started with some difficulty. The flight departed Fargo at 1748 CST and made fuel stops at Billings, Montana, and Felts Field, Spokane, Washington. The pilots did not report any mechanical difficulties over this segment. The flight departed Spokane at 0035, April 14, on an IFR flight plan via Green Airway 2,5,000 feet to Ephrata, Washington, 7,000 feet to Ellensburg, Washington, and 8,000 feet to Seattle. Routine position reports were made, the last being over Ellensburg at 0143 and climbing to 8,000 feet from 7,000. At approximately 0200 the Seattle ARTC Center heard a call on 120.3 mega-cycles from an unidentified aircraft which was believed to be N 657143, advising that estimated time of arrival at Seattle was 0227 and that the aircraft was standing by on Boeing Field Tower frequency (118.3 megacycles). At 0207 the pilot of N 65743 reported an engine failure and requested further clearance. Seattle Center advised the aircraft to contact Seattle Approach Control or Boeing Tower as soon as practicable and cleared at to cross Seattle at or above 4,000, no delay expected. Later transmissions from the aircraft were on Boeing Field Tower frequency, rather than the Approach Control frequency of 119.5 megacycles. Signals from the aircraft were weak and difficult to read by both Approach Control (located in the Seattle-Tacoma Tower) and by the Boeing Field Tower. However, Approach Control had less difficulty than Boeing Field Tower in hearing the aircraft on 118.3 megacycles, so the controller cooperated with Boeing Tower in furnishing them with the content of messages through interphone. The pilot could apparently hear Boeing Tower, but not Approach Control. At 0214, Approach Control heard the pilot of N 65743 report that he was icing up and losing altitude. The flight was cleared for an approach to Boeing Field by the Boeing Field controller upon instructions from Approach Control, and was given current Seattle weather conditions. The last transmission from the aircraft was received at 0222, reporting that the flight was at 4,800 feet. Search and rescue activities were instituted shortly thereafter. Two crew members and five passengers were killed while 18 others were rescued. The aircraft was destroyed.

While cruising at an altitude of 3,500 feet in marginal weather conditions, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt Spokane located northeast of Spokane, Washington, Both pilots were killed.