Flight Details
On the day of the accident, two Douglas DC-4 aircraft operated separate flights from Oakland Airport for the purpose of conducting six-month instrument competency checks. Overseas National's DC-4 departed at 0820 with Captain Marion Harvey Click in command, serving as company check pilot. Captains Hammond Garrard and Warren Cecil Gessner were aboard to receive their checks. No other persons were on board. The aircraft had been refueled with 1,229 gallons of gasoline and 11 gallons of oil, and its load was within certificated gross weight and properly distributed.
California Eastern's DC-4 took off at 0935. Captain Ralph A. Shope, company chief pilot, occupied the right seat and acted as check pilot. Captain Winfield B. Kinner, receiving the check, occupied the left seat. Louis Goldberg, an upholsterer and company mechanic, was seated in the cabin to sew arm rests. The aircraft had 1,600 gallons of gasoline, also within weight limits. Both aircraft were equipped with hoods on the left side of the cockpit to restrict the view of the pilots being checked. On Overseas, an additional pilot served as an observer.
Collision
Both aircraft performed their training maneuvers in the Bay area above 3,000 feet. Shortly before 1013, they approached the Oakland low frequency radio range station, located 0.2 mile northeast of the approach end of Runway 15. Overseas was inbound on the NW leg of the range at a magnetic heading of approximately 124 degrees, while California was homing on a heading of 75 degrees. Both were at an altitude of 3,000 feet. Weather conditions were good: the U.S. Weather Bureau observed a ceiling of 25,000 feet, thin broken clouds, visibility seven miles, and wind south at four mph. The sun's bearing at 1015 was 153 degrees, with an altitude of 28 degrees 27 minutes.
During the period before 1013, the aircraft converged without any change in direction or altitude. No evasive action was taken. The collision occurred approximately over the range station. California was at a slightly lower altitude; contact occurred between the leading edge of California's vertical stabilizer and the right side of Overseas' fuselage just forward of the horizontal stabilizer.
Aftermath
Shortly after the collision, Overseas crashed out of control onto Doolittle Drive, the highway paralleling the north side of Oakland Airport. All three pilots on board were killed at impact. Several persons driving on the highway near the impact site received burns of varying degrees, and several automobiles were destroyed by fire.
California's aircraft suffered tearing of the top portions of its vertical stabilizer and rudder but remained controllable at 160 miles per hour. Immediately after the collision, Captain Shope had Captain Kinner remove the hood. With California south of the airport at 2,500 feet, Captain Shope requested permission to land on Runway 9R and have emergency equipment stand by. However, all fire equipment was at the Overseas crash scene, so the flight was directed to San Francisco Airport, 12 miles away, where an emergency landing was made at 1021.
Probable Cause
The Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the Overseas safety pilot and/or his observer to observe and so avoid the other aircraft and the failure of California's safety pilot to carry a qualified observer aboard the aircraft to insure an adequate field of vision. The following findings were noted: both flights were for six-month instrument competency checks with hoods installed on the left side; Overseas carried an observer as required, California did not; both aircraft were making simulated instrument approaches to the Oakland range station at the same altitude; the aircraft converged at an angle of approximately 49 degrees; Overseas was a few feet higher than California; no evasive action was taken; the collision occurred at 3,000 feet over the range station.