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| Date: | Thursday 17 November 1955 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Douglas MC-54M (DC-4) |
| Owner/operator: | United States Air Force - USAF |
| Registration: | 44-9068 |
| MSN: | 27294 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1945 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 48 km WNW Las Vegas, NV -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | Hollywood-Lockheed Air Terminal, CA (BUR/KBUR) |
| Nevada Test and Training Range / Area 51 Airport, NV (KXTA) |
USAF C-54 44-9068 was routinely assigned to carry scientific and technical personnel from the Lockheed "Skunk Works" in Burbank to the secret Area 51, where they were working on the U-2 plane.
Because of the secrecy, the crew were never in contact with air traffic control. The plane flew on a new route that would cut 10 minutes off the total flight time. However, the C-54 was blown off course by a severe storm front and while lost in the clouds, an error in the assumed position of the aircraft in relation to the Spring Mountain range resulted in the crash a mere 50 feet below the crest of an 11,300-foot ridge leading to the peak of Mount Charleston.
Sources:
Nevada Legislature Web Site
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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