Status:	Final
Date:	28 JUN 1971
Time:	18:00
Type:	Douglas C-47-DL
Operator:	Lake Riverside Estates
Registration:	N90627
C/n / msn:	4642
First flight:	1942
Engines:	2 Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92
Crew:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:	Fatalities: 15 / Occupants: 21
Total:	Fatalities: 17 / Occupants: 24
Airplane damage:	Written off
Airplane fate:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	Shelter Cove, CA (United States of America)
Phase:	Takeoff (TOF)
Nature:	Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:	Shelter Cove Airport, CA, United States of America
Destination airport:	San Jose Municipal Airport, CA (SJC/KSJC), United States of America

Narrative:
The DC-3 wasn't able to gain height on take-off from the 3000 feet Shelter Cove runway. The wheels left the ground twice, but the aircraft touched down again 150 feet past the runway end. The undercarriage struck a transformer and the no. 1 engine struck the roof of a sewage disposal building. The DC-3 became airborne again and arched downward over the cliffs, into the ocean and crashed 150yds offshore. The pilot had failed to remove the rudder and elevator gust locks.

PROBABLE CAUSE:
pilot in command - inadequate preflight preparation and/or planning
miscellaneous acts,conditions - gust locks engaged
FACTOR:
miscellaneous acts,conditions - aircraft came to rest in water

Sources:
» NTSB
Sample newspaper article from Newspaperarchive.com