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

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

, crashed on January 12, 1937 near

Newhall, California Newhall is the southernmost and oldest community in the city of Santa Clarita, California. Prior to the 1987 consolidation of Canyon Country, Santa Clarita, California, Canyon Country, Saugus, Santa Clarita, California, Saugus, Newhall, and Val ...

. The twin engine 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 Martin Elmer Johnson (October 9, 1884 – January 13, 1937) and Osa Helen Johnson (née Leighty, March 14, 1894 – January 7, 1953) were married United States, American adventurers and documentary filmmakers. In the first half of the 20th cent ...

fame. The off-course Boeing 247D, ''en route'' from

, was on approach to the

Union Air Terminal Hollywood Burbank Airport, legally and formerly marketed as Bob Hope Airport after entertainer Bob Hope , is a public airport northwest of downtown Burbank, California, Burbank, in Los Angeles County, California, United States.. Federal Aviatio ...

in severely lowered

visibility The visibility is the measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. In meteorology it depends on the transparency of the surrounding air and as such, it is unchanging no matter the ambient light level or time of ...

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. 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 3550 feet, near the summit of Los Pinetos, the highest mountain in the immediate vicinity. �
PDF
/ref> 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 Osa suffered back and neck injuries but continued with the couple’s lecture circuit, doing so from her wheelchair.Kansas State Historical Society - Profile of Osa Johnson
/ref> She later sued Western Air Express and United Airports Co of California for $502,539 but lost on appeal in 1941.
''Los Angeles Times'', July 1, 1941, p. A14 - brief excerpt 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 The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

. 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.

References

External links

* * - includes brief glimpse of NC13315 at 06:00 mark * - includes wreckage photographs * - names of passengers & crew * * (related to above ''Evening Independent'' article, but edited with alternate content) {{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in the 1930s Airliner accidents and incidents in California Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1937 1937 in California 1937 in Los Angeles Disasters in Los Angeles History of Los Angeles County, California Santa Clarita, California 7 Accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 247

See also

References

External links