Incident
A Convair CV-440 operated as Flight 802 crashed into a foothill in the White Mountain range near Bishop, California, while on a charter flight for Wolper Productions Inc. The aircraft had departed Bishop Airport at about 20:20 local time, carrying a 32-person movie production crew plus a flight crew of four. The cast and crew of the television series 'Primal Man' were returning from filming a prehistoric hunting sequence in the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains. Among the passengers were director-writer Dennis Azzarella and actor Janos Prohaska.
Flight Sequence
The flight began when the aircraft departed Hollywood-Burbank Airport at 18:14 to pick up the passengers in Bishop. The initial leg from Burbank to Bishop was flown under visual flight rules (VFR). At 19:10, the crew contacted the Tonopah Flight Service Station (FSS) and canceled their VFR flight plan. They then filed an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan for the return trip. The aircraft landed at Bishop at 19:20. After boarding, the flight departed the gate at about 20:20. The crew contacted Tonopah FSS to request activation of their IFR clearance. After taking off from runway 12, the flight made a climbing right turn, circled near the Bishop VOR, and then proceeded east-southeasterly. At 20:24, the crew reported they were off Bishop at 20:20 and were "climbing VFR over Bishop, awaiting clearance."
Accident
Approximately four minutes after that last transmission, the aircraft struck a foothill in the White Mountain range at an elevation of 6,100 feet. The impact occurred on a magnetic heading of about 175° with the aircraft in an approximate 25° bank to the right. All 36 occupants were killed.
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident. The board concluded: "It was not possible to determine the probable cause of this accident. The reason why the flight crew did not maintain a safe distance from hazardous terrain during night visual flight conditions could not be established."