Tucson

The crew was completing a ferry flight from Tucson to Ogden-Hill AFB. On approach, while descending to a height of 7,000 feet, the crew got a n°2 prop low oil warning. The engine was shut down but the crew was unable to feather the propeller for unknown reason. Despite the situation, the pilot-in-command was able to continue the approach and landed safely on runway 32. After touchdown, the n°2 prop separated from its mount and debris punctured the n°1 fuel tank. The airplane caught fire and came to rest in flames after a course of 4,000 feet. All three crew members escaped uninjured while the aircraft was partially destroyed by fire.

The crew was engaged in a fire fighting mission in the region of Tucson, Arizona. While flying at low height, the crew noticed a loss of power on all four engines and attempted an emergency landing. The aircraft crash landed in an uninhabited area and came to rest. Both pilots were uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Apache Airlines Flight 33 of May 6, 1971, was a regularly scheduled air taxi flight from Tucson to Phoenix, Arizona. The aircraft was a De Havilland Dove Model 104-7AXC (Carstedt CJ600A Conversion), N4922V. The flight departed Tucson International Airport, under visual conditions, at 1253 m.s.t. with 10 passengers and a crew of two, and with 140 gallons of fuel on board. At about 1315, ground witnesses near Coolidge, Arizona, observed the aircraft flying in a northwesterly direction. Some of these witnesses reported that they first heard loud engine noises emanating from the aircraft, and that the engine sound then ceased. According to two of the witnesses, the aircraft initially descended at a “slight angle” which steepened to a 45-to-50 degree dive angle. None of the witnesses saw smoke or fire while the aircraft was in the air, and none saw parts separate from the aircraft. According to the witnesses, there were high scattered cumulus clouds in the area. A pilot, who flew a light aircraft through that general area after the accident, reported that he encountered severe turbulence at about 4,200 feet in the Phoenix area. The 1258 surface weather observation at Phoenix was reported as, measured ceiling of 4,800 feet broken clouds, 25,000 feet overcast, visibility 40 miles, wind from 250’ at 8 knots, and an altimeter setting of 29.78 inches. The crew was current in the aircraft and qualified for the operation involved. The wreckage site, a flat plowed field, revealed two distinct craters with no impact marks between them. One crater was oriented north/south. Most of the fuselage and left wing wreckage was found north of that crater and within 200 feet of it. The other crater, which contained remains of the right wing and the right engine, was located approximately 35 feet southeast of the fuselage crater. Scattered parts of the right wing were located northeast of the crater formed by that wing. Only one piece of wreckage was found outside the immediate area of the craters. This piece, a fairing from the lower aft wing root, was located 1,160 feet northwest (downwind) of the fuselage crater. Although the entire airframe of N4922V was fragmented, the degree of fragmentation was greater on the right side of the fuselage. Both engines were recovered, still attached to portions of their wing attach structure. No evidence of any pre-existing damage was noted on the engine mounts. The engines revealed no evidence of malfunction or failure prior to impact. Neither engine was producing power at impact. Both propellers were found in the feathering range: Disassembly and examination of both fuel controls, the fuel pumps, and the propeller governors revealed no discrepancies except for impact damage. All 12 occupants were killed.

Shortly after takeoff from Tucson Airport, while climbing by night, the crew informed ATC about an engine failure and received the permission to return for an emergency landing. While completing a last turn at low height, the aircraft hit power cables and crashed near the runway threshold. Four occupants were killed while 11 others were injured.

At 0559LT, the aircraft departed Tucson and routine position reports were subsequently received from the flight over Casa Grande, Gila Bend, and Yuma, Arizona. At 0754, the American Airlines radio operator at San Diego transmitted the 0750 weather report for San Diego: Indefinite ceiling 1,200 feet, broken clouds; visibility 8 miles. Receipt of this information was acknowledged by flight 6103 and immediately thereafter the flight reported that it had been over El Centro, California, at 0753 at 3,000 feet. Los angels Airway Traffic Control delivered a clearance for Flight 6103 to American Airlines radio station at San Diego clearing the flight to San Diego to cruise at 8,000 feet and to cross San Diego at an altitude of at least 500 feet above the overcast. The company station, in turn, attempted to relay the Airway Traffic Control clearance to the flight at 0812, however, after several attempts at establishing contact with the flight, Airway Traffic Control was advised that the clearance as not delivered. All further attempts to contact the flight were unsuccessful. Routine search procedures were initiated immediately and at 1305 aircraft of the Naval Air Control Center at San Diego reported sighting the wreckage of the airplane was spotted on the east slope of Thing Mountain, some 10 miles southeast of Pine Valley. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and all 25 occupants were killed.

While flying over Arizona, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with thunderstorm activity and low clouds. The twin engine aircraft hit the slope of Mt Black Mesa located some ten miles southwest of Brenda, Arizona. The wreckage was found 12 feet from the summit and all 17 occupants were killed.
Crew:
Cpt Ben Gibson, pilot,
Lt George Winzler, copilot,
Sgt Jack Maier, flight engineer,
Pvt Frank Byrne, radio operator.
Passengers:
Pfc George Jones,
Pfc Dudley Hutton,
Pfc George Francis,
Pfc Bruce Carden,
Pfc Haig Sansian,
Pvt Leroy Thomas,
Sgt Williams Yates,
Sgt Clyde Wikadel,
Yeoman James Woodley,
Donald Brakebill,
Edgell Powell,
E. O. Milliron,
F/O A. C. Middleton.
Source & photos:
http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/c47blackmesa.html

En route, the four-engine aircraft went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed on the slope of a mountain located south of Tucson. SAR operations were conducted but suspended after few days as no trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. Eventually, the wreckage was found two months later on a mountainous and isolated area located south of Tucson. All 11 crew members were killed.

En route, an engine caught fire and exploded. The captain attempted an emergency landing but the aircraft eventually crashed in the Santa Catalina Islands, northeast of Tucson. Six crew members were killed while two others were able to bail out and were unhurt.

The airplane crashed in Tucson following a fuel exhaustion. There were no casualties.
Crew:
Clyde B. Kelsay.

After takeoff from El Paso Airport, while climbing to a height of about 800 feet, the engine caught fire. The pilot bailed out and abandoned the aircraft that entered a dive and crashed in a field. The pilot was uninjured and the aircraft was destroyed.