West Coast Airlines Flight 720

Last updated
West Coast Airlines Flight 720
N2701 Fairchild F.27 West Coast A-l YYC 01JUN67 (6874827941).jpg
Sister aircraft N2701 in 1967
Accident
DateMarch 10, 1967
Summary Icing
SiteStukel Mountain
Klamath County, Oregon, U.S.
near Klamath Falls Airport
42°07′15″N121°39′14″W / 42.12083°N 121.65389°W / 42.12083; -121.65389
Aircraft
Aircraft type Fairchild F-27
Operator West Coast Airlines
Registration N2712
Flight origin Klamath Falls Airport
Klamath Falls, Oregon
1st stopover Medford Airport
Medford, Oregon
2nd stopover Eugene Airport
Eugene, Oregon
Last stopover Portland International Airport
Portland, Oregon
Destination Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, Washington
Occupants4
Passengers1
Crew3
Fatalities4
Survivors0
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
class=notpageimage|
Location in the United States
USA Oregon relief location map.svg
Red pog.svg
class=notpageimage|
Location in Oregon

West Coast Airlines Flight 720 was a scheduled passenger flight in the northwest United States from Klamath Falls, Oregon to Seattle, Washington, with intermediate stops at Medford, Eugene and Portland, Oregon. On March 10, 1967, it crashed shortly after takeoff from Klamath Falls, killing all three crew members and the flight's lone passenger. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Synopsis

West Coast Airlines Flight 720 was operated on Friday, March 10, 1967 by a Fairchild F-27 aircraft registered N2712 and built in 1960. That morning, the aircraft was parked in West Coast's hangar at Klamath Falls Airport for routine maintenance. [4] Because of snowy conditions, instead of loading at the terminal, as was standard procedure, the aircraft was loaded in the hangar with the passenger and crew members. Both pilots performed a preflight check of the plane and reported nothing unusual.

After boarding was completed at 4:46 a.m. PST, the plane was pushed out of the hangar as snow, mixed with rain, was falling. [4] During pushback, the tractor tug became immobilized in the snow. Ground personnel spent 11 minutes freeing it, and during this time, the airplane was exposed to the adverse weather conditions and no attempt was undertaken to clear the wings or control surfaces of snow. Once freed from the snow, the aircraft taxied to Runway 14 and was granted takeoff clearance at 4:57 a.m. The elevation of the airport is approximately 4,100 feet (1,250 m) above sea level.

The aircraft took off at 5:01 a.m., and at 5:02:43 the crew contacted the tower to confirm that the plane was visible via radar. This was the last communication from the aircraft. The controller replied to the crew that they were indeed visible via radar, and he then witnessed a target on his screen drift to the left of the runway centerline and head toward the 6,526-foot (1,989 m) Stukel Mountain, four miles (6 km) southeast of the airport. At 5:02:49, the flight impacted the mountain's northwest slope at an approximate elevation of 5,050 feet (1,540 m). [4]

Cause and investigation

At 5:09 a.m., a report reached the tower that an aircraft had crashed on Stukel Mountain. The runway tracks were observed in heavy snow, and the plane had swerved to the left on the runway before becoming airborne. By takeoff, the left gear was 12 feet (3.7 m) off the runway. [4]

Several witnesses in the vicinity saw the airplane flying low and saw or heard a large explosion. All reported snow at the time of the crash. [5]

The aircraft was equipped with a flight data recorder (FDR). Although the FDR was damaged in the crash, its recording medium could be read. The aircraft was reported to have climbed for approximately one minute after takeoff. Throughout the flight, the aircraft was recorded to have continued a turn to the left of the assigned heading. Shortly before impact, the aircraft began a sharp turn to the left, toward the mountain, at heading of 042 degrees.

The aircraft was equipped with a cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Although the device was damaged, the recording was intact. The crew reported a loss of control before impact and reported that they could not see the mountain. An expletive was uttered just before impact. [4]

The aircraft was observed accumulating ice and snow on its control surfaces prior to takeoff and when moved out of the hangar. The investigation concluded that the failure of the crew to de-ice the plane was the cause of the accident. [6] Given the crew's short turnaround schedule, fatigue was suggested as a contributing factor.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenerife airport disaster</span> 1977 runway collision at Los Rodeos Airport

The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on 27 March 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The accident occurred when KLM Flight 4805 initiated its takeoff run in dense fog, colliding with the right side of Pan Am Flight 1736 still on the runway. The impact and the resulting fire killed all 248 people on board the KLM plane and 335 of the 396 people on board the Pan Am plane, with only 61 survivors in the front section of the latter aircraft. With a total of 583 fatalities, the disaster is the deadliest accident in aviation history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Airlines Flight 191</span> 1979 DC-10 crash in Chicago, US

American Airlines Flight 191 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago to Los Angeles International Airport. On the afternoon of May 25, 1979, the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating this flight was taking off from runway 32R at O'Hare International when its left engine detached from the wing, causing a loss of control. The aircraft crashed about 4,600 feet (1,400 m) from the end of runway 32R. All 271 occupants on board were killed on impact, along with two people on the ground. With a total of 273 fatalities, the disaster is the deadliest aviation accident to have occurred in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas DC-7</span> US airliner with 4 piston engines, 1953

The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the earliest jet airliner—the de Havilland Comet—entered service and only a few years before the jet-powered Douglas DC-8 first flew in 1958. Larger numbers of both DC-7B and DC-7C variants were also built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Airlines Flight 255</span> 1987 plane crash of an MD-82 in Detroit, Michigan

On August 16, 1987, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, operating as Northwest Airlines Flight 255, crashed shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, about 8:46 pm EDT, resulting in the deaths of all six crew members and 148 of the 149 passengers, along with two people on the ground. The sole survivor was a 4-year-old girl who sustained serious injuries. It was the second-deadliest aviation accident at the time in the United States. It is also the deadliest aviation accident to have a sole survivor, the deadliest aircraft accident in the history of the state of Michigan, and the worst crash in the history of Northwest Airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1991 Los Angeles runway collision</span> Two-airplane fatal accident

On the evening of Friday, February 1, 1991, USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737-300, collided with SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprop aircraft, upon landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). As Flight 1493 was on final approach, the local controller was distracted, though air traffic was not heavy at LAX, by a series of abnormalities, including a misplaced flight progress strip and an aircraft that had inadvertently switched off the tower frequency. The SkyWest flight was told to taxi into takeoff position, while the USAir flight was landing on the same runway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairchild F-27</span> Regional twin turboprop airliner

The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 are versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined, turboprop, passenger aircraft formerly manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standard Fokker F27, while the FH-227 was an independently developed, stretched version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Midwest Flight 5481</span> 2003 aviation accident in North Carolina, United States

Air Midwest Flight 5481 was a Beechcraft 1900D on a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Greenville–Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina. On the morning of January 8, 2003, the Beechcraft stalled while departing Charlotte Douglas International Airport and crashed into an aircraft hangar, killing all 21 passengers and crew aboard and injuring one person on the ground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crater Lake–Klamath Regional Airport</span> Airport in Oregon, United States of America

Crater Lake–Klamath Regional Airport is a public use airport in Klamath County, Oregon, United States, five miles southeast of Klamath Falls, which owns it. It is used by general aviation, military aviation and a few airline flights. In 2013, the name of the airport was changed to Crater Lake-Klamath Regional Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Continental Airlines Flight 1713</span> 1987 aviation accident

Continental Airlines Flight 1713 was a commercial airline flight that crashed while taking off in a snowstorm from Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado, on November 15, 1987. The Douglas DC-9 airliner, operated by Continental Airlines, was making a scheduled flight to Boise, Idaho. Twenty-five passengers and three crew members died in the crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Coast Airlines</span> US carrier (1941–1968) that merged into Air West

West Coast Airlines was a United States local service carrier, a scheduled airline certificated by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), linking small cities in the Pacific Northwest with larger cities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Montana, California and north to Alberta in Canada. It was headquartered in the Westlake area of Seattle, Washington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Airlines Flight 2605</span> 1979 aviation accident

Western Airlines Flight 2605, nicknamed the "Night Owl", was an international scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles, California, to Mexico City, Mexico. On October 31, 1979, at 5:42 a.m. CST (UTC−06:00), the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 used on the flight crashed at Mexico City International Airport in fog after landing on a runway that was closed for maintenance. Of the 88 occupants on board, 72 were killed, in addition to a maintenance worker who died when the plane struck his vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Coast Airlines Flight 956</span> 1966 aviation accident

West Coast Airlines Flight 956 was a scheduled commercial flight in the western United States which crashed on October 1, 1966, approximately 5.5 miles (9 km) south of Wemme, Oregon, southeast of Portland. Thirteen passengers and five crew members were aboard, but none survived. In its first week of service, the aircraft was destroyed by the impact and subsequent fire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provincetown-Boston Airlines Flight 1039</span> 1984 aviation accident

Provincetown-Boston Airlines Flight 1039 was a scheduled passenger flight from Jacksonville International Airport in Jacksonville, Florida, to Tampa International Airport, Florida. On December 6, 1984, the plane crashed upon takeoff at Jacksonville, killing all 13 passengers and crew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ozark Air Lines Flight 982</span> 1968 aviation accident in Iowa, U.S.

Ozark Air Lines Flight 982 was a regularly scheduled flight on December 27, 1968, originating from Sioux Falls Regional Airport to O'Hare International Airport connecting through Sioux Gateway Airport that crashed shortly after takeoff. The plane struck the ground about 500 feet beyond the end of the runway and came to a stop about 1200 ft from the end of the runway. Thirty-five of the flight's 64 passengers and four crew members were taken to area hospitals, mostly for treatment of minor cuts and scratches. The flight was piloted by Capt. Patrick G. Sweeney, 48, of Wood River, IL. The copilot was John T. Schmeltz, 33, of St. Louis.

References

  1. ↑ "Airline crash takes 4 lives". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). March 10, 1967. p. 1A.
  2. ↑ "West Coast crash kills 4 in Oregon". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 11, 1967. p. 1.
  3. ↑ "Deep snow prevents probe of plane crash". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 12, 1967. p. 3A.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2011-04-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ Klamath Falls, OR West Coast Airline Plane Crashes, Mar 1967 https://www.gendisasters.com/node/3623
  6. ↑ "Accident detail". planecrashinfo.com. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.