On July 17, 1963, a Curtiss C-46 Commando (registration B-148) operated by Air America was involved in an aviation accident near Pak Tha, Laos in flight. 6 people were killed. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The pilot attempted to maintain visual ground contact while flying under VFR in IMC, leading to a low-altitude mountain collision. This summary draws on records from the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A); 8 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.
An aircraft crashed into a mountainside near Pak Tha during flight in poor weather conditions, resulting in no survivors.
What happened
During a flight through adverse weather, an aircraft impacted the slope of a mountain situated in the vicinity of Pak Tha. At the time of the impact, the crew was operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR) despite being within Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC). The aircraft was flying at a significantly low altitude, which appeared to be an attempt by the pilot to keep the terrain in sight.
Findings
The flight was conducted in poor weather conditions.
The crew attempted to maintain visual contact with the ground while flying in IMC.
The impact resulted in six fatalities among the occupants of the aircraft.
Probable cause
The pilot attempted to maintain visual ground contact while flying under VFR in IMC, leading to a low-altitude mountain collision.