1948 Los Gatos DC-3 crash

On January 28, 1948, a DC-3 aircraft operated by Airline Transport Carriers with 32 persons on board, mostly Mexican farm laborers, including some from the bracero guest worker program, crashed in the Diablo Range, 20 miles west of Coalinga, California, killing all passengers and crew. The crash inspired the song "Deportee" by Woody Guthrie.

Some of the passengers were being returned to Mexico at the termination of their bracero contracts, while others were undocumented immigrants being deported. Initial news reports listed only the pilot, first officer, stewardess, and an INS guard, with the remainder listed only as "deportees." Only 12 of the victims were initially identified. The Mexican victims of the accident were placed in a mass grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in Fresno, California, with their grave marked only as "Mexican Nationals".

Accident

The Douglas DC-3 aircraft, operated by Airline Transport Carriers, an airline based in Burbank, California, was chartered by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to fly twenty-eight Mexican citizens, who were being deported to the INS Deportation Center in El Centro, California.

For reasons never explained, pilot Frank Atkinson and co-pilot Marion Ewing took a DC-3 that had seats for only twenty-six passengers (seven hours overdue for a routine and required safety inspection) for the flight, instead of an aircraft certified to carry thirty-two passengers. Arriving in Oakland, California, after a routine flight, the crew was joined by INS guard Frank Chaffin. The flight was to refuel at Burbank, California, before continuing to El Centro.

At approximately 10:30am, workers at the Fresno County Industrial Road Camp, located 21 mi northwest of Coalinga, California, noticed the DC-3 trailing white smoke from its port engine. The port wing suddenly ripped off, spilling nine passengers out of the gaping hole in the fuselage. The aircraft caught fire and spiralled to the ground near Los Gatos Creek, exploding in a ball of fire. The investigation by the Civil Aeronautics Board discovered that a fuel leak in the port engine's fuel pump had ignited and the slipstream fanned the flames to a white hot intensity. The ensuing fire, acting like a torch, burned through the wingspar and caused the crash.

Initial news reports listed only the pilot, first officer, stewardess, and the immigration guard, with the remainder listed only as "deportees". Only 12 of the victims were initially identified. The Hispanic victims of the accident were placed in a mass grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in Fresno, California, with their grave marked only as "Mexican Nationals". The grave is 84 by 7 ft with two rows of caskets and not all of the bodies were buried the first day, but the caskets at the site did have an overnight guard.