United Airlines Flight 615
Encyclopedia
United Airlines Flight 615, a Douglas DC-6
B with FAA
registration , was operating as Flight 615, which was a transcontinental east-west service serving Boston
-Hartford
-Cleveland-Chicago
-Oakland
-San Francisco. The plane was transporting 50 persons (44 passengers and 6 crew members) on August 24, 1951.(if link above fails to load report, visit http://dotlibrary.specialcollection.net and select "Historical Aircraft Accident Reports (1934-1965)", then retry report link)
The flight departed Chicago
at 10:59 p.m. CST en route to Oakland. At around 4:16 a.m., the plane was approaching Oakland. At this time, the pilot, Marion W. Heddin of Los Altos, had talked with the control tower of the Civil Aeronautics Administration at the airport preparing for his landing, and had mentioned no trouble. At 4:25 a.m. Flight 615 was cleared for the straight-in approach into Oakland.
This was the last radio transmission received from the flight. The plane crashed into mountainous terrain 15 miles (24.1 km) southeast of Oakland, careening into Tolman Peak and over its knoll, scattering on the downslope and into Dry Gulch Canyon below in a fiery explosion. All 50 persons on board perished.
In its August 25, 1951, edition, The New York Times
reported:
After an investigation, it was determined that the pilot ignored the prescribed instrument landing procedures. The pilot instead relied on visual reference, using the copilot's automatic direction finder (ADF). The ADF threw the plane three miles (5 km) off course and below the prescribed altitude of 3500 feet (1,066.8 m).
United uses the flight 615 designation today on a Washington (National)-Chicago (O'Hare) route.
Douglas DC-6
The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with the Lockheed Constellation in the long-range...
B with FAA
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
registration , was operating as Flight 615, which was a transcontinental east-west service serving Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
-Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
-Cleveland-Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
-Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
-San Francisco. The plane was transporting 50 persons (44 passengers and 6 crew members) on August 24, 1951.(if link above fails to load report, visit http://dotlibrary.specialcollection.net and select "Historical Aircraft Accident Reports (1934-1965)", then retry report link)
The flight departed Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
at 10:59 p.m. CST en route to Oakland. At around 4:16 a.m., the plane was approaching Oakland. At this time, the pilot, Marion W. Heddin of Los Altos, had talked with the control tower of the Civil Aeronautics Administration at the airport preparing for his landing, and had mentioned no trouble. At 4:25 a.m. Flight 615 was cleared for the straight-in approach into Oakland.
This was the last radio transmission received from the flight. The plane crashed into mountainous terrain 15 miles (24.1 km) southeast of Oakland, careening into Tolman Peak and over its knoll, scattering on the downslope and into Dry Gulch Canyon below in a fiery explosion. All 50 persons on board perished.
In its August 25, 1951, edition, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported:
After an investigation, it was determined that the pilot ignored the prescribed instrument landing procedures. The pilot instead relied on visual reference, using the copilot's automatic direction finder (ADF). The ADF threw the plane three miles (5 km) off course and below the prescribed altitude of 3500 feet (1,066.8 m).
United uses the flight 615 designation today on a Washington (National)-Chicago (O'Hare) route.
See also
- Lists of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
External links
- Union City History - Crash of Flight 615 - includes period photographs and a chart excerpt from CAB report
- Wreckchasing.com - United Airlines Flight 615 - includes hiking directions to the crash site
- Check-Six.com - The Crash of United Airline Flight #615 - includes full crew and passenger list
- Mishalov.com - The Crash of a DC-6B in Alameda County, California - includes current-day photographs of crash site and topographic map
- Accident scene photo from Airdisaster.comAirdisaster.comAirDisaster.com is a website devoted to accidents and incidents on commercial airliners. It includes voice recordings, accident videos, reports and articles about a number of airliner crashes. It also includes crash statistics by company, plane model and year...