Burbank

Shortly after takeoff from Point Mugu NAS, while in initial climb, the right engine lost power and caught fire. The crew elected to return for an emergency landing when control was lost and the airplane crash landed by the runway and came to rest. All three occupants were slightly injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. For unknown reason, the fire extinguishing system was inoperative.

The DC-3 was cruising at FL115 between Burbank and Hawthorne when a no. 2 engine failure forced the crew to shut the engine down and feathered the propeller. At 20:50 EDT the crew radioed Tonopah, NV and said they wanted to make an emergency landing there. At 20:58 EDT the no. 1 engine lost power. The propeller couldn't be feathered and an emergency glide was initiated towards Mud Lake airfield. A 2000 feet/min rate of descent was necessary to maintain a 110 knots airspeed. All electrical and hydraulic power was lost during the descent. The DC-3 struck the ground in a 10-20 degree nose down attitude during the flareout and overturned. It appeared that there were numerous maintenance irregularities, a.o. improperly adjusted valve clearances, improperly adjusted voltage regulators and improperly installed cylinders. The plane was equipped with 2 28V dc generators and one 12V battery. All electrical components other than the starters were designed for 12V dc operation. It also appeared that all maintenance was performed by companies other than the operator. In many instances inadequate and incomplete records failed to reflect work accomplished.

On December 14, 1962, at 2212 P.s.t., a Flying Tiger Line Inc., Super Constellation, N6913C, crashed about 1-1/4 miles west of the Lockheed Air Terminal, Burbank California, during an ILS approach to runway 7. All five persons on board the aircraft and three persons on the ground sustained fatal injuries. The last radio communication with N6913C was the flight's acknowledgement of its radar-observed position two miles from the end of the runway on the localizer course. Twenty seconds later the aircraft crashed Into a fog-shrouded residential/industrial area.

While cruising in marginal weather conditions at an altitude of 8,500 feet, the airplane struck trees and crashed on the slope of the Panther Peak. The aircraft was destroyed and both crew members were killed. At the time of the accident, the crew was not following the assigned route from Burbank to Seattle-Tacoma Airport for unknown reason. Apparently following a navigation error, the aircraft was 45 miles to the east from the intended route and at an insufficient altitude of 8,500 feet instead of the minimum 14,500 feet required.

The flight had made routine position reports from its assigned altitude of 11,000 feet until passing over Winslow, Arizona. Shortly after the last routine report at 11,000 feet a higher altitude was requested of Air Traffic Control because of encountering icing conditions. The request was granted and the aircraft reported, five minutes later, being at 13,000 feet between cloud layers. The last report was over Zuni, New Mexico, estimating Grants at 0249, 19 minutes later. Ten minutes after this report a ground explosion at an elevation of 7,200 feet m. s. 1. was observed by another flight and by ground witnesses. The wreckage of N300E was found in the area of the witnessed explosion. The right engine master rod bearing had failed in flight and the right propeller was feathered; however, complete loss of control followed and the aircraft struck the ground in a very steep angle of descent. As far as can be determined, there was no failure of the aircraft structure or controls prior to ground impact. The aircraft had anti-icing equipment installed and the pilots were experienced in Lodestar operation. There is evidence of the aircraft being considerably over its maximum allowable weight at departure and it is believed that the comparatively sudden failure of an engine at 13,000 feet created a situation, made more critical by virtue of the then existing weight, in which the pilot was unable to maintain control of the aircraft. All four occupants were killed, among them the American film producer Mike Todd, husband of Elizabeth Taylor, who was flying with his scenarist Art Cohn. The twin engine airplane was christened 'The Liz'.

The four engine aircraft was completing a flight from Burbank to the secret base 51 (aka Homey) located near Groom Lake, Nevada, carrying a crew of four and 10 passengers, atomistics, engineers and scientists who were taking part to the Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft building program. Due to the fact that the flight was secret, the crew did not have any radio contact with ATC. Enroute, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with thunderstorm activity and low visibility. While flying in clouds at an altitude of 11,300 feet, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt Charleston about 50 feet below the summit, killing all 14 occupants.

This was a nonscheduled flight originating at Burbank, California, for Oakland, California. There were 30 passengers and a crew consisting of Captain Joseph A. Bradsher, Copilot Keith C. Dutson, and Stewardess Utta Jorgensen. Company records indicated that takeoff gross weight was 26,089 pounds (authorized maximum was 26,200 pounds), and the center of gravity of the aircraft was located within prescribed limits. A Defense Visual Flight Rules flight plan was filed; the plane was loaded, taxied to the end of the runway, and its engines were run up. At 0751 the flight was cleared for takeoff from runway 15, to climb westward on top of haze and smoke. It executed a takeoff and climbed in a normal manner into smoke haze, which was more dense toward the south., and in which it was lost to view of observers at the airport. Approximately one minute 2 after takeoff (0752) Flight 24 called the tower and requested an emergency landing clearance. This was granted; runway 7 was suggested by the tower and accepted by the pilot. The airport was cleared of traffic and emergency equipment alerted. At 0755 the tower called repeatedly as the flight had not been sighted. At 0756 the flight called the tower and stated its intent to land on runway "31." Lockheed Air Terminal has no runway 31 but has a runway 33. About this time Flight 24 was sighted by the control tower operator an estimated one mile to the southwest proceeding in a nose-high attitude toward the airport but not aligned with any runway. Across the approach track being used was a powerline about 500 feet short of the airport boundary. As this line approached the nose-high attitude increased and immediately after passing this powerline the aircraft executed a slight left turn, banked 10 to 12 degrees. The left wing then struck a service powerline at the airport boundary. The aircraft stalled, its left wing collided with two parked Air Force C-54's, it cartwheeled, slid across the apron and struck Lockheed Service hangar No. 24, coming to rest in the open doorway of that hangar. The fuselage broke open at a point behind the wing and most of the survivors escaped or were rescued through this opening. Small fires started by the crash were quickly extinguished by personnel of Lockheed's plant protection organization, who also rescued survivors and rendered first aid most efficiently. This organization also guarded the scene and wreckage.

An engine caught fire in flight. All 20 occupants decided to bail out and abandoned the aircraft that dove into the ground and crashed in Santa Clarita. All 20 occupants were found uninjured while the aircraft was destroyed.

Following an uneventful flight from Williams AFB, Arizona, the crew started the approach to Burbank Airport from the north when he encountered foggy conditions. The aircraft hit the slope of the Mt Mission Point (2,771 feet high) located about five miles south of Santa Clarita. All seven crew members were killed.

The crew was engaged in a local test flight. On final approach, during the last segment, the crew inadvertently raised the gears. The four engine aircraft belly landed and slid for dozen yards before coming to rest in flames. While all five crew members were unhurt, the aircraft was lost.