BCPA Flight 304

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British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines (BCPA) Flight 304 was a Douglas DC-6, named Resolution and registered VH-BPE, on a flight from Sydney to San Francisco, with scheduled stops at Nadi (Fiji), Canton Island, and Honolulu. It crashed during its initial approach towards San Francisco International Airport on October 29, 1953, killing 19 people, including the American pianist William Kapell.

The four-engine Douglas DC-6 airliner (VH-BPE) was flying the Honolulu - San Francisco leg with a crew of 8 and 11 passengers. Captain Bruce N. Dickson (34) and his crew took over the plane in Honolulu as scheduled. The estimated flying time was 9 hours and 25 minutes. He and his First Officer, F.A. Campbell (28), were experienced with several thousand hours of flight time in a DC-6 each, and both pilots had made more than 100 approaches in to San Francisco Airport. The weather in the San Francisco area presented no adverse flight conditions; however visual reference with the ground was precluded by the overcast and an instrument approach was required.

[edit] Crash

As the flight neared the California coast, Captain Dickson contacted San Francisco Air Route Traffic Control, ARTC. At 8:07 a.m., he was cleared to descend in accordance with Visual Flight Rules and to maintain at least 500 feet above all clouds, which Dickson acknowledged. At 8:15 a.m., Flight 304 reported that it was starting to descend and at that time was given the San Francisco weather report. At 8:39 a.m., the flight called San Francisco Approach Control and advised that it was over Half Moon Bay, 500 above the clouds. In fact Flight 304 was several miles south of there. At approximately 8:42 a.m., the flight reported “Southeast, turning inbound”. At 8:44 a.m. the plane crashed into a ridge near Kings Mountain at an altitude of 1,950 feet and broke up, scattering the wreckage over a half-mile area in Corte Madera Canyon. Impact and the subsequent fire destroyed the aircraft. At 8:45 a.m., a call to the flight was unanswered as were all subsequent calls.

[edit] Investigation

The Civil Aeronautics Board investigated the accident. Weather above and below the fog belt was clear, and visibility was good in the instrument approach area and at the airport itself. The fact that ground visibility was obscured by fog necessitated an instrument approach. It was determined that the plane was not where the pilot said it was, despite acknowledgment and the position repeated back. The official probable cause of the crash was the failure of the crew to follow prescribed procedures for an instrument approach.

Today, the crash site is part of the "El Corte de Madera Creek Open Space Preserve", which includes the "Resolution Trail", named for the plane. Debris from the crash can still be seen beside this trail.