Flying Tiger Line Flight 282
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | December 24, 1964 |
| Type | Pilot error |
| Site | San Bruno, California, USA |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Constellation |
| Operator | Flying Tiger |
| Tail number | N6915C |
On Wednesday, December 23, 1964, a Flying Tiger Line Lockheed Constellation, N6915C, arrived at San Francisco International Airport from Japan. Filled with a cargo of electronic equipment, bolts of fabric, women's scarves, bandannas, purses, and costume jewelry for the Christmas holiday, the craft was refueled and departed just after midnight with a crew of three, 41,000 pounds of cargo, 136 pounds of mail, and 5,000 gallons of high-octane aviation fuel.
The weather was that of heavy fog and rain. A large cold frontal system was moving onshore, and on the north coast of California heavy flooding was destroying homes at a wholesale pace. Already a Coast Guard helicopter had been lost in these conditions.
Leaving just after midnight on December 24 from Runway 28, going northwest from the bay, flight 282 planned to head out over the ocean to circle and gain altitude, then travel east toward its destination of New York. Shortly after takeoff, however, the plane veered to the right of its planned course. The pilot, Jabez A. Richards, 49, of Bayhead, New Jersey, asked the tower for permission to change his radio setting from takeoff to departure frequency. With him were Daniel W. Hennessy, 33, of Hillsborough, California, as co-pilot, and Paul M. Entz, 37, of North Hollywood, California, as flight engineer. Seconds later, the plane vanished from the tower's radar scope.
The "Super Connie" crashed near the top of Sweeney Ridge in San Bruno, very close to the site of a Coast Guard radio station. All three crew members aboard were killed. No one on the ground was killed or injured.
The Civil Aeronautics Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was that the pilot, for undetermined reasons, deviated from departure course into an area of rising terrain, where downdraft activity and turbulence affected the ability of the craft to climb.
