All factored into the Jan. 16, 1942, plane crash that killed Fort Wayne native and Hollywood star Carole Lombard, her mother and 20 others on board.
But author Robert Matzen believes the biggest factor likely was the co-pilot filing the wrong flight plan, which sent them toward Mount Potosi southwest of Las Vegas.
“The aircraft hit a vertical cliff at perfectly level flight,” Matzen, author of the new book “Fireball: Carole Lombard & the Mystery of Flight 3” (GoodKnight Books, $26.95), said during a phone interview. “They had almost reached what they thought was the right cruising altitude, but they were 300 feet too low.”
The book, which will be released Thursday, delves into Lombard's life, the crash and the background of the plane's crew and other passengers. A limited number of copies also were released in December for the Christmas shopping season.
Read more here: http://www.news-sentinel.com
By omgleafs
On January 16, 1942, the United States was only a month or so into World War II. Carole Lombard, famous Hollywood actress originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, was returning to southern California from a War Bond drive in Indianapolis.
Trans Continental and Western Air (TWA) flight 3, a DC-3 (tail number NC1946) from Las Vegas to Los Angeles, had landed at Las Vegas at 6:30 pm, refueled, and climbed into a clear winter sky at 7:07 PM on a flight plan that would take it to 8,000 feet across the deserts and mountains of the southwestern USA.
Fifteen minutes later and 32 miles SW of Las Vegas, at an altitude of a little more than 6,000 feet and 6.7 miles off course, the plane hit 8,700 foot Table Mountain (AKA Double Up Peak) in the Mount Potosi range southwest of Las Vegas. All 22 souls on board, including Carole Lombard, her mother, and 15 soldiers perished.
This flight should have been routine and safe, but the new war conditions required that certain radio beacons be blacked out.
Clark Gable, her husband, immediately flew to the crash site. Despite the clear weather, rescuers found it difficult to climb to the crash site. The ensuing fire was still visible in the night sky, and the worst fears of all were confirmed when all were found dead.
This is one of those inexplicable accidents that should never have happened. The plane had been serviced and checked and was in good condition. The crew was experienced over this route. The weather was clear with no storms, and enough navigational aids were functioning to allow for a safe flight.
This simulation is set a couple of hours earlier than the actual time of the crash so that a glow is still in the sky and the mountain can be seen against the setting sun. At the actual time of the crash, the sky would have been dark.
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