West Coast Airlines Flight 956 was a scheduled commercial flight in the
western United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
which crashed on October 1, 1966, approximately south of
Wemme,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
, southeast of
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
. 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.
The probable cause of the accident was "the descent of the aircraft below its clearance limit and below that of surrounding obstructing terrain, but the Board was unable to determine the cause of such descent."
This accident was the first loss of a
Douglas DC-9,
Airliners Historical Overviews/Aircraft Specifications/Crash Statistics
/ref> and the first fatalities for the airline. Three of the passengers were employees of the airline.[
]
Timeline
On Saturday, October 1, 1966, a Douglas DC-9 registered in the United States as N9101 operated as Flight 941 southbound from Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
, Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
, to San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, with intermediate stops in Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
at Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
and Eugene.
After approximately one hour on the ground, the aircraft and crew became northbound Flight 956, which reversed the route and stops of the previous flight. Flight 956 arrived in Eugene at 19:34 and departed for Portland at 19:52. The flight received an Instrument Flight Rules
In aviation, instrument flight rules (IFR) is one of two sets of regulations governing all aspects of civil aviation aircraft operations; the other is visual flight rules (VFR).
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ''Instrument Fly ...
(IFR) clearance via Victor Airway 23 at altitude.
Accident
Under Air Traffic Control radar vector at 20:04:25 PDT, Flight 956 received descent instructions from Seattle Center. Flight 956 acknowledged the transmission to descend to from . Approximately one minute later, the controller
Controller may refer to:
Occupations
* Controller or financial controller, or in government accounting comptroller, a senior accounting position
* Controller, someone who performs agent handling in espionage
* Air traffic controller, a person ...
advised the flight that Runway 28R was in use at Portland International Airport
Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city li ...
and instructed the flight to "turn right heading three zero zero." After questioning the direction of the turn, the crew acknowledged "Right turn to three zero zero, roger."
The controller lost radar contact with the flight while it was in the right turn passing through an estimated heading of 240 to 260 degrees. At 20:09:09, the crew was requested to report when established on a heading of 300 degrees. After repeating the request, the crew responded at 20:09:27, "Nine five six wilco." When the radar target failed to return, and no other transmissions were heard from the flight, accident notification procedures were initiated at 20:15.
An F-106 Delta Dart fighter interceptor from McChord Air Force Base (south of Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...
) and a HU-16 Albatross seaplane from Portland's air base were dispatched to attempt to locate the missing plane on the night it disappeared.[ At the time of the disappearance, more than an hour after sunset, the cloud ceiling was at , with the weather consisting of rain.][Airliner missing with 20 on coast: DC-9 Feared Down in Area Near Oregon Mountain. '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', October 2, 1966.
Wreckage
Searchers found the plane the following afternoon, Sunday, October 2,[All 18 on Plane Killed in Oregon Crash. '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', October 3, 1966. in an unpopulated section of the Mount Hood National Forest
The Mount Hood National Forest is a U.S. National Forest in the U.S. state of Oregon, located east of the city of Portland and the northern Willamette River valley. The Forest extends south from the Columbia River Gorge across more than of fore ...
, approximately west-southwest of Mount Hood
Mount Hood is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It was formed by a subduction zone on the Pacific coast and rests in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located about east-southeast of Portlan ...
. The wreckage was located on the eastern slope of a ridge in the Salmon Mountain Complex at an elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of .[Air Force Coordination Center Crash Locator](_blank)
/ref> The aircraft attitude was 30 degrees right bank, in a 3-4 degree climbing flightpath on a heading of 265 degrees at impact. After shearing numerous large fir trees, it struck the 30-35 degree upslope and slid uphill approximately . The main wreckage came to rest at , and a severe ground fire occurred.
All of the extremities of the aircraft were accounted for, its landing gear was retracted, and no evidence of in-flight structural failure, fire, or explosion was found. The aircraft was equipped with a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder. Although both were recovered from the wreckage, only the flight data recorder provided a usable record. William L. Lamb of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was in charge of the investigation.[
]
Aircraft information
The aircraft involved with registration N9101, a Douglas DC-9-14, serial number 45794, was delivered to West Coast Airlines
West Coast Airlines was an airline (then called a "local service" airline as defined by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board) linking small cities in the Pacific Northwest with larger cities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Montana, California ...
just fifteen days prior to the accident. The plane had entered service on Monday, September 26,[ had flown a total of 164 hours, and had been maintained as required by the ]Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
(FAA). The cost of the 75-passenger plane was $3 million.[
]
Crew
This was a route qualification flight for its captain, who had over 18,900 flying hours, but only seventeen in the DC-9. The check captain had 21,800 hours, but only fifty in the DC-9. The first officer, in the jump seat, had over 9,500 hours, with only nine in the DC-9. All three had completed recent proficiency checks: the captain and first officer had theirs two days prior, the check captain's was on September 20. The other two crew members were flight attendants, and all five resided in the Seattle area.[
]
Findings
The specific cause of the accident was never determined by the National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...
. However, in the process of the investigation, the NTSB made these findings:
#The aircraft was airworthy and the pilots were properly certified.
#There was no mechanical failure of the aircraft, its systems, powerplants, or components.
#The flight was cleared to, and acknowledged, an assigned altitude of .
#The aircraft was being flown on autopilot.
#The flight descended in a normal manner to approximately and leveled off.
#An abrupt climb was initiated two seconds before impact.
See also
* List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
References
External links
*
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1966
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1966
Clackamas County, Oregon
Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain
Airliner accidents and incidents in Oregon
Disasters in Oregon
Accidents and incidents involving the McDonnell Douglas DC-9
West Coast Airlines accidents and incidents
1966 in Oregon
October 1966 events in the United States
Portland International Airport
Mount Hood National Forest