Burbank – Hawthorne

On August 19, 1964 at 08:05 PM, Burbank – Hawthorne experienced a crash involving Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3), operated by Hawthorne Nevada Airlines, with the event recorded near Tonopah Nevada.

The flight was categorized as charter/taxi (non scheduled revenue flight) and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

35 people were known to be on board, 0 fatalities were recorded, 35 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 0.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 32, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The DC-3 was cruising at FL115 between Burbank and Hawthorne when a no. 2 engine failure forced the crew to shut the engine down and feathered the propeller. At 20:50 EDT the crew radioed Tonopah, NV and said they wanted to make an emergency landing there. At 20:58 EDT the no. 1 engine lost power. The propeller couldn't be feathered and an emergency glide was initiated towards Mud Lake airfield. A 2000 feet/min rate of descent was necessary to maintain a 110 knots airspeed. All electrical and hydraulic power was lost during the descent. The DC-3 struck the ground in a 10-20 degree nose down attitude during the flareout and overturned. It appeared that there were numerous maintenance irregularities, a.o. improperly adjusted valve clearances, improperly adjusted voltage regulators and improperly installed cylinders. The plane was equipped with 2 28V dc generators and one 12V battery. All electrical components other than the starters were designed for 12V dc operation. It also appeared that all maintenance was performed by companies other than the operator. In many instances inadequate and incomplete records failed to reflect work accomplished.

Aircraft reference details include registration N61350, MSN 4535, year of manufacture 1942.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 38.1001°, -117.2251°.