What happened
The incident occurred during a nighttime departure from runway 27 under marginal weather conditions. While executing the initial climb, the pilot initiated a turn to the right. During this maneuver, the right wingtip made contact with the water surface. The aircraft subsequently impacted the Bay of San Francisco. All 24 occupants perished in the accident.
At the time of the crash, the cloud ceiling was recorded at 500 feet. Although visibility was reported as good beneath the cloud layer, the low altitude and night conditions created a challenging environment for visual reference.
Findings
Investigations determined that the crew lost their bearings during the initial climb phase. This loss of orientation was attributed to a malfunction in the gyroscopic instruments, which prevented the pilot from accurately determining the aircraft's position relative to the ground. The combination of flying over water, limited vertical clearance due to the low cloud ceiling, and the absence of reliable ground visual references contributed to the fatal outcome.