Posted on 12/15/2024 2:46:03 PM PST by DFG
On a cold, dark night in January 1952, a distress call went out over Death Valley.
“Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. This is Air Force 001 bailing out north of Barstow, California,” an official crash report would later read. Seconds later, six men jumped out of a 16-ton, two-engine, SA-16 Albatross plane into total darkness. The plane — with its backdoor hanging open — continued unmanned for a few moments, eventually crashing into a nearby desert mountain.
More than 70 years later, the metallic carcass is still there.
“The whole setting for it is just bizarre in a post-apocalyptic way,” said Abby Wines, spokesperson for Death Valley National Park. “It’s kind of on its side on a slope. It’s extremely steep. You’re on the ridge that sticks out into Panamint Valley. When you’re looking through and over the plane, there’s this desolate, open space where there’s nothing but the valley and mountains as far as the eye can see.”
But the site, which can still be accessed by very experienced hikers, is just the start. The real story is why the Air Force was flying over Death Valley in the first place: a fantastical tale that involves the most secret corners of the federal government, classified nighttime training flights and Cold War anti-communist agents.
A jump into darkness
If not for the crash, we would know very little, if anything at all, about the formation of the 580th, 581st and 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Wings, also known as ARC Wings.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Agent 001?
Bane did it
Pack it in, pack it out.
Say…how can I bail on a flight if an engine blows or pilot meets the vaccine god?
Did the pilot eat fish?
And asked if this was “over Death Valley”
did someone say “I’ll never be over Death Valley.”
If it’s incredible why should I believe it?
Top pick. Looks like another 200’ it would have cleared that peak.
Wonder where the wings and front half ended up?
The plane — with its backdoor hanging open
I'd say out the back door.
At a scrap metal recycling yard in San Bernardino.
Now is not the time for fear…that comes later. 🔥
Souvenir hunters.
Did I miss the persons names and/ or deaths?
Its interesting that they stripped panels from the elevator and rudder, but not the fuselage.
BCPA Flight 304/44 was a scheduled flight operated by British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines from Sydney, Australia, to Vancouver, Canada, with scheduled stops at Fiji, Canton Island, Honolulu and San Francisco. On 29 October 1953, the flight was conducted by a Douglas DC-6 named Resolution and registered in Australia as VH-BPE. The propliner crashed during its initial approach towards San Francisco International Airport, killing all 19 people on board, including the American pianist William Kapell.
“to save the stupid from themselves”
The number of stupid has risen in direct proportion to the rise of smart phones.
A little chicken wire
A little Bondo
A little paint
Control surfaces were covered by fabric, not metal.
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