Background
Alaska Airlines, Inc., was an air carrier certificated for scheduled operations within Alaska and between Alaska and the continental United States. On March 2, 1957, Flight 100 was a regularly scheduled nonstop flight from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Seattle, Washington. The aircraft, registration N90449, had arrived from Seattle that morning as Trip 101/1. Two minor discrepancies reported by the inbound crew were corrected during a turnaround inspection, and by 0930 the aircraft was ready for the return flight.
The assigned crew consisted of Captain Lawrence F. Currie, Copilot Lyle O. Edwards, and Stewardess Elizabeth Goods. The pilots discussed the flight with the station agent, completed necessary flight papers, and received weather for the route. The aircraft was serviced with 2,380 gallons of fuel. An IFR flight plan was filed with Fairbanks ARTC, indicating a DC-4, cruising altitudes ranging from 9,500 to 12,000 feet, and an estimated en route time of 7 hours 44 minutes. At 0940, the two passengers and crew boarded. Takeoff was made in VFR weather at 0958. Shortly thereafter, Fairbanks center cleared the flight as filed.
Flight Progress
The weather en route was forecast to be generally good, and the flight proceeded in clear conditions, making routine position reports. At 1240, over Haines, Alaska, at 12,000 feet, Flight 100 canceled its IFR flight plan and continued VFR to Annette, intending to file DVFR after Annette before entering the CADIZ. The flight was later observed at Patricia Bay, British Columbia, at an estimated 3,000 feet MSL by a tower operator, and also seen leaving the CADIZ.
At 1717, the Alaska Airlines Seattle dispatch office received a position report from Flight 100: "Dungeness at 16 VFR estimating Seattle at 34." This was the last contact with the flight.
Accident and Wreckage
The aircraft crashed shortly after the last report, and the wreckage was not located until March 3, 1957. It was found in heavily timbered mountainous terrain, approximately in the center of the "on course" zone of the northwest leg of the Seattle low frequency radio range, about 11 nautical miles southeast of the Dungeness fan marker. This leg defines the center of Amber Airway 1 between the Dungeness intersection and the range station. The minimum instrument en route altitude for this segment is 5,000 feet.
Due to adverse weather and inaccessibility, CAB investigators could not reach the scene until March 6. They noted that the wreckage had been disturbed prior to their arrival; some components were missing, presumably removed by unauthorized persons. The aircraft’s path during the final seconds was clearly defined in the heavy timber on a steep slope. The first tree contact was at a point 650 feet from the wreckage. The aircraft cut a level swath on a heading of 106 degrees magnetic, the width of its wing span, into the steeply rising wooded slope at an elevation of approximately 1,500 feet MSL. The terrain ahead rose to 2,000–2,100 feet MSL.
All five occupants were killed.
Investigation and Findings
The investigation determined no malfunction or emergency existed, and the aircraft was intact prior to initial contact with the mountain. Several errors and omissions in the course of the flight indicated the crew was lax and not giving proper attention to their duties. A navigational error resulted in the aircraft being three to four miles west of the flight path assumed by the crew. The pilot flew into instrument weather without obtaining a proper clearance. The aircraft crashed in terrain obscured by clouds.
Probable Cause
The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was a navigational error and poor judgment exhibited by the pilot in entering an overcast in a mountainous area at a dangerously low altitude.