It was heavy, slow, underpowered, but on par with other planes of its era.
Mechanical failure ? Possible, but I'm guessing pilot error - flying low through a pass as passengers oohed and ahhed at the scenery. Hot, thin air, full load, and unturbocharged engines meant they couldn't clear the mountainside at the end of the pass (just like the CO crash I cited)
> “Mechanical failure ? Possible, but I’m guessing pilot error - flying low through a pass as passengers oohed and ahhed at the scenery.”
I remember a cartoon with two pilots looking at a couple of mountain goats ahead. One pilot said “How did those goats get up into this cloud?”
It was a piece of junk. It was very difficult to load and unload cargo through is door and it’s corrugated skin created drag, reducing air speed.