Accident description
Last updated: 19 June 2013
| Status: | Final |
| Date: | 28 JAN 1948 |
| Time: | 10:50 |
| Type: | Douglas C-47B-40-DK |
| Operator: | Airline Transport Carriers |
| Registration: | NC36480 |
| C/n / msn: | 16850/33598 |
| First flight: | 1945 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2868 |
| Engines: | 2 Pratt & Whitney R-1830 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 29 / Occupants: 29 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 32 / Occupants: 32 |
| Airplane damage: | Written off |
| Airplane fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Diablo Mountains, CA (United States of America) |
| Phase: | En route (ENR) |
| Nature: | Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Oakland International Airport, CA (OAK/KOAK), United States of America |
| Imperial County Airport, CA (IPL/KIPL), United States of America |
Douglas DC-3 NC79055, certificated for 32 passengers, had been scheduled for the flight. The crew however took NC36480 by accident, certificated for 26 passengers and 7 hours overdue for a 100-hour inspection. The flight to Oakland was uneventful. At Oakland, 28 passengers boarded the DC-3, leaving three of them sitting on luggage without seat belts. While en route at 5000 feet, the no. 1 engine caught fire. Following an explosion, the left wing, including the engine, separated from the fuselage. The aircraft crashed out of control.
It appeared that the gasket in the engine driven left fuel pump was broken and the 4 studs holding the castings of the pump together were loose. Under pressure, gasoline probably sprayed from the pump, then being ignited by the exhaust. The aircraft was carrying Mexican deportees and a US Immigration & Naturalization Service guard.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the left wing in flight as a result of damage by fire which had its source in a defective left engine driven fuel pump." Events:
Sources:
» Air Britain Casualty compendium (pt. 47)
Sample newspaper article from Newspaperarchive.com
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Oakland International Airport, CA to Imperial County Airport, CA as the crow flies is 806 km (504 miles).
Distance from Oakland International Airport, CA to Imperial County Airport, CA as the crow flies is 806 km (504 miles).
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Douglas DC-3
- 1453rd loss
- ca 13.000 built
- worst accident (at the time)
- 25th worst accident (currently)
United States of America- 5th worst accident (at the time)
- 105th worst accident (currently)