Oakland – Los Angeles

On April 8, 1946 at 11:20 AM, Oakland – Los Angeles experienced a crash involving Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor, operated by United States Army Air Forces - USAAF, with the event recorded near Mt Diablo California.

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

2 people were known to be on board, 2 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. After takeoff from Oakland Airport, while climbing, the crew was instructed by ATC to maintain a minimum safe altitude of 3,000 feet or at least 500 feet above clouds. Shortly later, due to the deterioration of the weather conditions, the captain informed ground that he elected to return to Oakland Airfield. While completing a last turn to the right at an insufficient altitude, the twin engine aircraft hit tree tops then crashed in a wooded area located on the slope of Mt Diablo located east of Walnut Creek. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and both occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the mountain was shrouded by clouds and the visibility was poor.

Aircraft reference details include registration 44-87062, MSN 8321, year of manufacture 0.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 37.8817°, -121.9141°.