Portland – Pendleton – Boise – Denver

On January 31, 1946 at 02:47 AM, Portland – Pendleton – Boise – Denver experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-3, operated by United Airlines, with the event recorded near Elk Mountain Wyoming.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

21 people were known to be on board, 21 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 3, crew fatalities: 3, passengers on board: 18, passenger fatalities: 18, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. On the non stop leg from Boise to Denver, while flying by night and poor visibility, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt Elk located southeast of Elk Mountain, south Wyoming. The wreckage was found few hours later in a deep snow and in poor weather conditions, about 340 feet from the summit. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and all 21 occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the aircraft deviated from the prescribed flight path by 4,5 miles and its altitude was 11,000 feet.

Aircraft reference details include registration NC25675, MSN 2147, year of manufacture 1939.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 41.6333°, -106.5264°.