Page:CAB Accident Report, TWA Flight 3 (January 1942).pdf/22

  Flight 3 departed from Las Vegas, Nevada, at 7:07 p.m. having been cleared to fly in accordance with contact flight rules to Burbank, California. About 15 minutes after departure from Las Vegas, Nevada, the airplane collided with Potosi Mountain, in the Springs Mountain Range of Nevada, at an elevation of 7,770 feet above sea level, while approximately level longitudinally and laterally and while proceeding straight ahead approximately at cruising speed. The point of impact has a magnetic bearing of approximately 215 degrees from the Las Vegas airport. The airplane was flown between Las Vegas, Nevada, and the point of impact on a course which was improper for the route involved. Weather conditions in the area at the time were entirely satisfactory for the flight. The available radio range facilities were operating normally at the time of the accident. Due to emergency conditions resulting from the war, only one beacon between Las Vegas, Nevada, and Silver Lake, California, was operating. There was no evidence of structural, control system, or power plant failure prior to the accident, and the engines and propellers were functioning normally at the time the aircraft struck the mountain.

Upon the basis of the foregoing findings and of the entire record available at this time, we find that the probable cause of the accident to aircraft NC 1946 on January 16, 1942, was the failure of the captain after departure from Las Vegas to follow the proper course by making use of the navigational facilities available to him.