Lethbridge – Salt Lake City – Las Vegas – Burbank

On November 13, 1946 at 03:41 AM, Lethbridge – Salt Lake City – Las Vegas – Burbank experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-3, operated by Western Airlines, with the event recorded near Lebec California.

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

11 people were known to be on board, 11 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: 8, passenger fatalities: 8, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. At 0324LT, the crew informed ATC about his position at 9,000 feet vertical to Newhall and six minutes later, he obtained the permission to descend. At 0341LT, the aircraft hit the slope of Mt White located 14 miles south of Lebec and disintegrated on impact. All 11 occupants were killed. It appears that at the time of the accident, the aircraft was off track to the east by ten miles due to strong west winds, and it hit the mountain 75 feet below the summit.

Aircraft reference details include registration NC18645, MSN 11662, year of manufacture 1943.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 34.8416°, -118.8648°.