Collision
On a night with good weather and visibility exceeding 15 miles, a four-engine aircraft (a Liftmaster) departed Long Beach Airport at 1908 local time, bound for McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, carrying 35 passengers and a crew of six. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot received clearance to climb to 17,000 feet. Approximately five minutes later, while climbing through 3,000 feet, the Liftmaster collided with a USN Lockheed P2V-5F Neptune (registration 127723) that had departed from Los Alamitos Naval Air Station and was completing a local training mission with eight crew members aboard.
Aftermath
Following the collision, both aircraft went out of control and dove into the ground in Norwalk. The Liftmaster crashed onto several buildings and a fuel station, resulting in the deaths of all 41 occupants and one woman on the ground. The Neptune crashed in a stone pit about 2.5 miles north of the Liftmaster crash site. Six crew members on the Neptune were killed, and two others sustained serious injuries.
Investigation
The accident occurred in an uncontrolled area. The official investigation determined that both crews were co-responsible for the collision, as they failed to take appropriate measures to avoid each other and to pay attention to potential traffic. Specifically, the crew of the C-118 was blamed for not giving way to the Neptune, which was flying to its right.