Western Air Express Flight 7

Coordinates: 34°21′14″N 118°27′32″W / 34.354°N 118.459°W / 34.354; -118.459
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For other uses, see Flight 7.
Western Air Express Flight 7
Accident
DateJanuary 12, 1937
Summary
Western Air Express
RegistrationNC13315
Flight originSalt Lake City, Utah
DestinationBurbank, California
Occupants13
Passengers10
Crew3
Fatalities5
Survivors8

Western Air Express Flight 7, a domestic scheduled passenger flight from

Boeing 247D, registration NC13315, crashed shortly after 11:00 a.m. in adverse weather conditions. Of the three crew and ten passengers on board, one crew member and four passengers perished. One of the fatalities was noted international adventurer and filmmaker Martin Johnson, of Martin and Osa Johnson fame.[1]

The off-course Boeing 247D, en route from

Union Air Terminal at Burbank, California in severely lowered visibility due to heavy rain and fog. On suddenly spotting a ridge looming directly ahead, pilot William L. Lewis cut power to the engines and "pancaked" onto the hillside to reduce the force of the impact.[2]

The airliner first struck the ground with the left wing tip. It then skidded along the side of the mountain in a curved path for approximately 125 feet, finally coming to rest headed in the opposite direction from which it struck. The point of collision was at an elevation of 3,550 feet, near the summit of Los Pinetos, the highest mountain in the immediate vicinity.[3]

One passenger died immediately and three more died within a week, as did the co-pilot, C. T. Owens. Martin Johnson died of a fractured skull while hospitalized. His wife

California Supreme Court chose not to hear her appeal.[6]

One of the survivors was a 25-year-old passenger who managed to hike five miles down the mountainside where he met rescuers from the Olive View Sanitarium who were searching for the accident site.

The accident was investigated by the Accident Board of the Bureau of Air Commerce, under the authority of the

Department of Commerce.[3] The cause was attributed to the adverse weather conditions, coupled with the pilot’s decision to descend to a dangerously low altitude without positive knowledge of his position.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ PlaneCrashInfo
  2. ISSN 0040-781X
    . Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  3. ^
    Department of Commerce. May 12, 1937. Retrieved June 1, 2021. – PDF
  4. ^ Kansas State Historical Society - Profile of Osa Johnson
  5. Newspapers.com
    .
  6. Newspapers.com
    .

External links

34°21′14″N 118°27′32″W / 34.354°N 118.459°W / 34.354; -118.459

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