| - | ACCIDENT DETAILS |
| Date: | March 21, 1987 |
| Time: | 1355 |
| Location: | Mount San Gorgonio, California |
| Operator: | California Air National Guard |
| Flight #: | ? |
| Route: | ? |
| AC Type: | F-4C Phantom jet fighter |
| Registration: | 64-0923 |
| cn / ln: | 1403 |
| Aboard: | 2 (passengers:0 crew:2) |
| Fatalities: | 2 (passengers:0 crew:2) |
| Ground: | 0 |
| Summary: | Dean Paul "Dino" Martin, 35, son of entertainer Dean Martin was killed when the Phantom jet he was piloting crashed into the San Bernardino Mountains. Permission was given by March Air Force Base ATC to perform a "maximum climb" takeoff. The aircraft was seen disappearing into a scattered cloud ceiling at 4,700 feet. Radar contact was lost 9 minutes into the flight. The crash site was found on the 3rd day of searching in the San Bernardino Mountains. An investigation revealed the aircraft flew, inverted, into a solid wall of granite between two mountain peaks at an altitude of 3,750 feet and at an estimated speed of 560 mph. The aircraft was literally pulverized into the granite. The "maximum climb" takeoff, g forces associated with this type of flight and the dense cloud cover negatively affected the pilots ability to know his position and aircraft attitude. |
Sources
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