- ACCIDENT DETAILS
Date: January 16, 1942
Time: 1920
Location: Near Las Vegas, Nevada
Operator: Trans Continental and Western Air
Flight #: ?
Route: Las Vegas - Los Angeles
AC Type: Douglas DC-3
Registration: NC1946
cn / ln: 3295
Aboard: 22   (passengers:19  crew:3)
Fatalities: 22   (passengers:19  crew:3)
Ground: 0
Summary: The aircraft crashed into Mt. Potosi (Double Up Peak, Table Spring Mountain, Olcott Mountain), 32 miles SW of Las Vegas, NV, 15 minutes after taking off from the Western Airlines terminal building at Las Vegas. The aircraft clipped a rocky ledge, cartwheeled into the face of a cliff and exploded, scattering wreckage at the bottom of a ravine. Actress Carole Lombard, 33, her mother, and press agent were killed in the crash. Her mother did not want to fly and a coin was tossed to see whether the trip would be made by train or plane. The actress was returning from a war-bond promotion. The flight was 6.7 miles off course for unknown reasons. Failure of the captain to follow a proper course and make use of navigation facilities available to him. A contributing factor was the blackout of beacons in the area made necessary because of the war emergency.
Sources

Return to Home Page

Copyright © Richard Kebabjian / www.planecrashinfo.com