West Coast Airlines

Fairchild F-27 N2712 operated on a flight from Klamath Falls to Seattle via Medford, North Bend and Portland. Because snow was falling at Klamath Falls, the aircraft was loaded in the hangar instead of on the ramp. There was some delay in pushing out the aircraft onto the ramp because the tow tractor lost traction in the snow. The aircraft was exposed to the falling snow for about 11 minutes before the plane was able to taxy out to runway 14. A few minutes later, at 05:01 the aircraft took off. During the takeoff roll, after rolling about 1000 feet, the aircraft gradually served to the left. The nose wheel left the ground 600 feet prior to the main gear at a point where the track was half way between the center of the runway and the left row of runway lights. The left main gear was about 12 feet off the left edge of the runway for a distance of 250 feet prior to lift-off. Just after lift-off the aircraft swerved sharply to the right and immediately back to the left. On climb out the aircraft tended to the left, despite several course corrections. After reaching 5250 feet, the altitude dropped again to 4700 feet. The aircraft continued to climb until it crashed on a steep ridge on the northwest slope of Stukel Mountain at an elevation of 5049 feet (1539 m). The F-27 was in a right wing low attitude when this wing contacted the mountain; the aircraft then cartwheeled up the 30° up slope of the mountain. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were killed.

West Coast Flight 956 departed San Francisco (SFO) at 18:44 for a flight to Eugene (EUG), Portland (PDX) and Seattle (SEA). The brand new DC-9 aircraft, which had been delivered to West Coast Airlines just 2 weeks earlier, arrived at Eugene at 19:34 and took off again 18 minutes later. At 20:04 the crew were cleared to descend from the cruising altitude of FL140 to 9000 feet. While turning to heading 300°, the aircraft descended below the clearance altitude and impacted the wooded eastern slope of Salmon Mountain at the 3830 feet level. The aircraft attitude was 30° right bank, in a 3-4° climbing flight path on a heading of 265°. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 18 occupants were killed.

West Coast Airlines Flight 794 left Spokane, WA at 22:38 hours on a scheduled international flight to Calgary. The route flown was Spokane direct to Cranbrook. British Columbia. thence via Blue 3 to Calgary. At 23:33 hours Flight 794 reported to Calgary Terminal Control at 17 000 feet. The flight was then cleared to the Calgary VOR station at 13000 feet and requested to report by the Dyson Inter section. This was acknowledged and on request the latest Calgary weather was provided to the flight together with the altimeter setting (30.07 in Hg) and the runway to be used (28). Flight 794 reported by Dyson at 23:38 and was cleared to maintain 10000 feet. They were offered and accepted radar vectors to the localizer serving runway 28 and were then cleared for an approach. The flight was given a vector of 040 and advised it was south of the VOR station. At 23:46 hours the flight was advised it was 14 miles south of the localizer. Following successive vectors of 350° and 310° the flight was advised at 23:51 hours it was 1-1/2 miles south of the localizer and clearance was issued for a straight-in approach on interception of the localizer. Thirty-three seconds later the flight was informed it was 2 miles from the outer marker intersection and then at 2352 hours that it was over the outer marker intersection at which time it was requested to call the control tower. The flight called the control tower and reported over the intersection following which it was cleared to land on runway 28 and provided with wind information. An acknowledgement of this at 23:52 hours was the last transmission from the aircraft. It was determined subsequently that the aircraft struck the ground about 8000 feet before the threshold of runway 28 and 420 feet to the right of the centreline of that runway. It slid for a distance of about 800 feet before coming to rest. At the time of impact the aircraft was approximately in a 5° nose-down attitude. Four occupants were slightly injured while 11 others were unhurt. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

This flight was designated by West Coast Airlines, Inc., (WCA) as Pilot Training Flight No. 703. It was for the purpose of rating a company DC-3 captain for F-27 aircraft. N 2703 arrived at Salt Lake City Municipal Airport January 17, 1963, at 1431 1 as West Coast Flight 752 from Seattle, Washington, with stops at Yakima, Pasco, Walla Walla, all in Washington; Lewiston, Montana; and Boise and Twin Falls, both in Idaho. The flight had been uneventful and there were no carryover discrepancies entered in the aircraft's flight log. After completion of turnaround servicing, N 2703 departed the West Coast Airlines ramp at approximately 1506 with Company Cheek Pilot Instructor William Harvey Lockwood, Trainee Captain Elmer J. Cook, and FAA Carrier Inspector Buell Z. Davis aboard. A flight plan was prepared and signed by Captain Lockwood. It listed Elmer J. Cook as the first officer, FAA Inspector Buell Z. Davis as a crew member, and specified that the flight would be in the local area, under VFR conditions, and of 1 hour and 30 minutes duration. At departure Captain Cook occupied the left pilot seat, Captain Lockwood the right pilot seat, and Inspector Davis the observer's (jump) seat. The aircraft carried approximately 3,500 pounds of fuel which was ample for the intended flight. The aircraft's computed gross weight was 28,310 pounds, approximately 7,000 pounds less than maximum allowable for takeoff, and the center of gravity was within prescribed limit. Flight 703 took of f at 1510 and remained in the traffic pattern for a practice landing which was made at 1517. At 1522, Flight 703 made a second takeoff and was last observed three miles south of the airport by the local controller in the tower. The tower clearance for this takeoff was the last radio contact with the flight. The next known sighting of Flight 703 was from the air by the crew of Western Airlines Flight No. 38. At 1531 they observed it at an estimated altitude of 8,000 feet mean sea level (m.s.l.) descending to an estimated altitude of 7,000 feet m.s.l. with the left propeller feathered. It was headed southeasterly, and in the vicinity of the southern tip of Antelope Island in Great Salt Lake, some 10 miles west-northwest of the airport. Several minutes later, the ground controller in the Salt Lake City Tower observed Flight 703 for a few minutes. He saw it approaching the airport from the west at an estimated altitude of 8,000 feet above the ground. It appeared to be flying level as it came approximately over him, continuing a few miles to the east and over Salt Lake City. It then made a right turn to a west-northwesterly heading and continued in that direction until the controller discontinued watching it at a point approximately five miles west of the airport. He did not notice anything unusual about the aircraft's appearance or performance. The next observation of Flight 703 was by a motorist near the southeastern shore of the Great Salt Lake who saw it at an estimated 3,000 feet above the ground descending. He estimated the time of his initial observation to be 1550. The aircraft appeared to be on a northwesterly heading making a normal descent considerate west of the Salt Lake City Airport and continued descent until it appeared "to actually go into the lake itself." He did not see any splash; his position was about six miles from where the wreckage was later found. The official U.S. Weather Bureau observation at Salt Lake City Municipal Airport at 1555 on the day of the accident was: Ceiling estimated 12,000 feet broken, high overcast, visibility 12 miles, temperature 34 degrees F., dewpoint 2 degrees F., wind from south-southwest at 5 knots, altimeter setting 30.05, smoky, snow showers of unknown intensity east. Weather conditions were not appreciably different an hour earlier nor an hour later. At 1700, the Salt Lake City Flight Service Station (FSS) received a request from the Salt Lake City Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) to initiate a call to Flight 703 on all available frequencies. There was no reply from Flight 703 to these calls. At 1758 the Salt Lake City FSS received information from the Salt Lake City ARTCC that West Coast Flight 703 was overdue and unreported. On January 18, 1963, at approximately 1140, one body and aircraft debris was seen floating in Great Salt Lake. This floating debris was 10.4 nautical miles to the Salt Lake City Very High Frequency Omni Directional Range (VOR) or the 248 de radial. Early next morning the other two bodies were sighted and all three were recovered from the lake.