Associated Air Transport Flight 1-6-6A
Curtiss C-46F Commando · Uncontrolled flight into terrain after icing
From King County International Airport - Boeing Field (BFI) to Fort Jackson, SC
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 40 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 40
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Curtiss C-46F Commando
- Aircraft type
- Curtiss C-46
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N1648M
- Operator
- Associated Air Transport
- Onboard fatalities
- 40
- Route
- From King County International Airport - Boeing Field (BFI)To Fort Jackson, SC
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Aircraft › Fluids/misc hardware
- Not determined › Not determined
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Fish Haven, ID, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.
From the Wikipedia article
On January 7, 1953, a Curtiss C-46F Commando operating as Associated Air Transport Flight 1-6-6A, returning soldiers home from Korea, crashed into terrain approximately 8 miles west of Fish Haven, Idaho, killing all 40 people on board. The plane had descended into an area of severe icing, causing ice to form on the wing, eventually crashing into the bottom of a ravine.
An oddity of the accident was that the US military arranged for many aircraft to return a large group of soldiers home and boarded them in alphabetic order. All soldiers on this flight thus had last names beginning with the letters H, J and K.
Accident
The flight departed Boeing Field at 12:50 AM MST, and proceeded en route to Cheyenne Airport. It was carrying 37 U.S. soldiers participating in the Korean War who were returning home to Fort Jackson in South Carolina. The flight was completely routine through 3:58 AM MST when the aircraft reported passing over Malad City at 13,000 ft, and estimated that it would reach Rock Springs at 4:45 AM. No further communications were received from the accident aircraft. The aircraft was later found to have impacted several pine trees at about 8,500 ft, slid down a ravine, and collided with the base of a hill on the other side of the ravine.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The investigation was significantly hampered by deep snow. It took five days to find the crash; USAF paramedics immediately parachuted onto the site, confirming the identity of the aircraft and lack of surviviors. The full accident team arrived at the location over the next two days. The military guarded the site until the investigation was complete in June.
The aircraft, crew and airline were all determined to be properly certificated and the crew had sufficient rest time before the flight. No problems were identified with the maintenance condition of the aircraft, nor was there any evidence of fire. The aircraft did depart Seattle about 400 lbs over its 45,000lb maximum permitted takeoff weight but by the time of the crash it was several thousand pounds below the maximum due to fuel consumption. The crew had also been properly briefed about forecast en-route weather conditions.
The aircraft crashed into terrain at about 8,500 ft, despite being cleared to fly at 13,000 ft. The investigation determined that, while flying near the mountains in between Malad City and Bear Lake, the aircraft inadvertently entered an area of ice and turbulence. The board was unable to determine why the crew did not request a higher altitude. Ice formed on the wings, leading to a decrease in aircraft performance, descent and, ultimately, the crash at 8,500 ft.
Causes
The investigators determined that the aircraft experienced severe turbulence and wing icing, which led to the aircraft's crash. However, the investigators were unable to determine the reason for the aircraft's descent into severe turbulence and icing conditions.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Associated Air Transport Flight 1-6-6A” (revision 1362426276, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: Associated Air Transport Flight 1-6-6A
- Revision
- 1362426276 · 2026-07-03 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q121237489
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "Associated Air Transport Flight 1-6-6A" (page 74421434, revision 1362426276)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- centre of the town the Wikipedia infobox site names (GeoNames, CC BY 4.0)
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- flight number in the article title
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.