Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board 1969 Plane wreck north of LBS Lake

On February 18th, 1969, a southbound Mineral County Airlines DC-3 with 35 persons aboard slammed into a hillside in the Mt. Whitney area. All perished in the crash, including both parents of a friend. At this point in her life she would like to visit the site to bring some closure. She could even accept viewing it from a distance if the site is inaccessible.

The wreckage lies at 11,800' on a north facing slope roughly .9 miles north of lower Boy Scout Lake and .75 miles directly east of Mt. Carillon's summit. I have been told that there is a 500' debris field running down the slope from the point of impact.

I have the exact GPS coordinates and I am also experienced in off-trail routefinding. But I'm not experienced in anything beyond class 3 climbing.

Has anyone been to the area or seen the wreckage from another vantage point? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I saw a report with some photos not too long ago (can't remember where unfortunately) so I'm sure someone should be able to provide some info. If I recall the easiest access is via Hogback Creek -- a seldom accessed location. Bob Rockwell is quite familiar with the peak where the crash occurred. It is usually climbed (class 2) from the south side via the North Fork of Lone Pine Peak. The wreckage however is on the North side.

-Rick

The peak above the crash site is named Gambler's Special in honor of the victims of the crash. My good friends and I climbed it on my birthday this past June 21. I know Snow Nymph got some really good shots of the wreckage after Tom Gossett pointed them out.

My pics of the climb are here.

Snowy's pics are here.

From her set:


Hope this helps a bit!

-L

Rick is correct, the debris field is best accessed via Hogback Cyn. A photo report is here .

Dave

These two guys only made it to the helicopter crash by the lake. The DC-3 is up the canyon about 1/4 mile. TomG said if you just want to see it, the best views are from Gamblers Special. He hiked to the site from the Hogback a few years ago.

Mtntrailrunner,

Here's a link to a story on the wreck, no disrespect is intended by posting it. In the story you'll learn of a visit to the site by Tom Gossett and John ? in 2002. John's last name isn't listed in the story. So I'm not sure who he is.

http://www.donrjordan.com/gambler.html

You might try contacting the author of the story or going to http://www.aircraftwrecks.com/ and contacting G. Pat Macha. One of them may be able to help you out in obtaining your goal of visiting the site.


hiiker

That article by Don Jordan is very interesting. Thanks for posting the link!

The NTSB report has some interesting details about the impact site as well as the search. It also states as part of the search/recovery there were two additional crashes: A small airplane on Mt. Tom, and a helicopter at the Whitney Crash site (injuries but no further fatalities).

http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR70-05.pdf

Fascinating story.

Tthat article mentioned a man from Trona who has documented many of the plane crashes in the Sierras. I have been trying to find out if he has a website. I had a friend whose father died in a private plane crash apparently near Bishop in 2000 and I always wanted to visit the site and find out exactly where it is. The local authorities basically told me in 2001 that it was "none of my business" and I was morbid for even asking.

Much thanks to all who responded. I remember reading the TR's about Gambler's Special Peak but I never knew the origin of its name. And I certainly didn't make the connection when I heard of my friend's parents dying up there.

We'll be making an attempt to reach the wreckage some time in the next two months. After reading all the links I've become fascinated with the story myself.

The NTSB report is amazing to read. The whole story is fascinating. It was a bit chilling to read about all the watches they found and when they had stopped.. Wow..

BeachAV8R I assume you are a pilot by your tagline. I used to have my Private Pilots licence. I am not current. You can just see what happened and know how easy it was to make that mistake of not accounting for the winds aloft. What an entirely avoidable mistake. I have a pilot friend and we always agree that if you never fly at night or in bad weather you won't have an airplane accident.They had both.You wonder why they didn't just fly IFR. If it was marginal why would you risk it especially a commercial flight.

That story on the crash was very interesting....thanks for the link. It's amazing how much personal belongs were still on the crash site after so many years.

I had never heard of the crash site before.

I hope the child of the parents killed on the crash can find some closure once he/she visits site.

My name is Jeff. My parents were on that Gambler's Special as well. I was 12 at the time but still think about it often. I needed some closure so I started reading everything I could about the accident. A hiker who went up to the site a week ago e-mailed me about 161 pictures of the crash site and it was unbelievable that everything was still there. I'm looking for people whose parents were also on that plane.

Jeff

My condolences to you Jeff. What a horrible tragedy.I will pray that you find the closure you are looking for. There can never be any words of comfort for such a terrible event but there can come healing. I was not aware of this event until it was posted here. I find it a most unusual story and I am amazed that personal property and effects still lies all over the crash site.

Hi Jeff,

Must have been tough losing your parents like that when you were so young. I am sure lots of people here share my sentiments, offering you sincere condolences.

There is a link from this message board to the same set of 161 pictures here:
  Gambler's Special revisted

And another thread:

http://www.mt-whitney.info/viewtopic.php?t=2438

Snownymph/ the two guys...it is me terawanderer...remember from the Barker Ranch ???
To anyone I have been there and can help with any info on the climb...hard class 1 all the way.

Another thread just a few days back:
  Gambler's Special revisted