Transocean Air Lines Flight 942

Transocean Air Lines Flight 942 was a military charter flight operated by Transocean Air Lines. Soldiers commonly used Transocean aircraft for needed travel as they had a contract with the United States Department of Defense (DoD). The flight was chartered to transfer military personnel for a rotation from New Mexico to Guam. No weather problems were predicted, yet multiple weather systems were spotted in California. At 12:11 MST on March 20, 1953, the flight departed from Roswell, New Mexico, to Oakland, California. The flight was normal at first, but disappeared from radar at 18:36 PST. Two minutes later, the aircraft, a Douglas DC-4, crashed in a barley field in Oakland, California, killing all 35 occupants.

Rescue services attempted to transport the victims to hospitals, but delayed efforts due to poor road conditions in the area. Six survivors were rescued, but ultimately died at Fairmont Hospital. As there were no survivors, ambulances carried the bodies to the Parks Air Force Base for identification that continued beyond the clearing of the crash site. The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) commenced its investigation of the crash on March 21. Parts were arranged in a manner to replicate the aircraft. The investigation concluded that the probable crash reason was due to lack of control for unknown reasons; weather problems caused ice to form in the aircraft contributing to the crash.

Background

The flight was chartered to transfer military personnel for a rotation under Transocean Air Lines' contract with the DoD, specifically the 509th Bombardment Wing, from Walker Air Force Base in New Mexico to the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. Since aircraft used to fly personnel were unavailable, the wing chartered an aircraft to transport them. Transocean aircraft were commonly used by military teams. The 830th Bombardment Squadron was responsible for providing aircrew and aircraft, while other squadrons contributed to flight plans and passenger lists. The movement progressed until March 20, when more aircraft were planned to depart, including a C-97 and two DC-4s over the course of the day.

Accident

Before departure, a Defense Visual Flight Rules plan was approved by the Air Route Traffic Control, indicating the flight should hover at an altitude of at least 500 ft in Red Airway 88 to Albuquerque, New Mexico; Green Airway 4 to Palmdale, California; Blue Airway 14 and Amber Airway 1 to Bakersfield, California; and Blue Airway 10 to Oakland, California. On the morning of the flight, a low-pressure center formed in southwestern Montana while a cold front was moving in an easterly direction at the southwestern portion of California. Other weather systems, including an occluded front, began moving to northwestern California. Although no severe weather was forecasted in the area near Oakland, the weather systems resulted in additional turbulence.

At 12:11 MST on March 20, 1953, the flight departed from Roswell, New Mexico, for Oakland, California. The trip was expected to take six hours and 35 minutes, with sufficient fuel for 10 hours. The weight of the aircraft at the time of takeoff was 63,817 lb, with an allowable gross weight of 73,000 lb. After takeoff, the flight was routine. At 14:51 MST near Winslow, the aircraft changed to instrument flight rules. At 17:32 PST, the flight reported it was within the vicinity of Fresno, with an altitude of 8,000 ft. Subsequently, at 17:44 PST, still over Fresno, the flight reported to a local communications center it was at an altitude of 7,000 ft, descending from its previous altitude at 17:30 PST.

Upon approaching Evergreen at 18:09 PST, the flight was told to maintain altitude at 8,000 ft over Newark. The crew requested to descend to 7,000 ft at 18:10 PST; the request was denied due to heavy air traffic at that altitude. The aircraft held its altitude for 11 minutes. Subsequently, the Oakland Approach Control cleared the flight for a straight-in range approach while descending in a holding pattern to cross the Newark compass locator at 3,500 ft. The approach control also told the flight crew to report descending each 1,000 ft. At 18:30 PST, the aircraft started descending and reached 3,500 ft at 18:36 PST. This was the last known interaction with the aircraft before it crashed.

Two minutes later, at 18:38 PST, the aircraft was found to have crashed in a flat barley field 1.5 mi northeast of Alvarado. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported the aircraft crashed after being cleared for a landing at Oakland Airport. Eyewitnesses saw the aircraft crash into a hill in drizzling rain. Some witnesses saw ice chunks adhering to parts of the aircraft. The investigation showed it crashed on its right wingtip first, with a vertically inclined position. The aircraft flipped over multiple times and disintegrated. Debris was scattered over an 800 ft long area and a 300 ft wide area. The impact force as well as the resulting fire caused the aircraft to break into pieces; most were destroyed by the fire. Only two major parts of the aircraft remained: a part of the left wing that was found 634 ft from the accident and a fuselage center section.