What happened
During an approach near Las Vegas, an aircraft operating Flight 114 encountered challenging meteorological conditions, including light snow, obscured skies, and visibility limited to 900 meters. The ceiling was reported at approximately 500 feet. While executing a VOR/DME-3 approach, the aircraft descended below the required altitude minima.
At a distance of 9.7 DME, at an elevation of 3575 feet MSL, the aircraft type (unspecified in source) struck rising terrain and crashed. At this specific location, the flight should have maintained an altitude of 4300 feet MSL.
Findings
Investigation into the accident revealed that the VOR/DME-3 approach procedure was a recent addition to the local charts, having been implemented on October 3, 1964. Prior to November 15, no other flights had utilized this specific procedure.
Analysis of the approach chart indicated that the segment between the 15-mile fix and the 6-mile fix lacked explicit descent instructions in the profile section. However, a solid horizontal line was present between the 6-mile and 3-mile fixes at an altitude of 3,100 feet. The chart legend identified this solid line as the "Flight Path," which led to the misinterpretation of the approach chart by the pilot, suggesting that a descent to 3,100 feet was appropriate upon reaching the cleared fix.