Western Air Express Flight 7

{{short description|1937 aviation accident in Newhall, California}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox Aircraft accident | name = Western Air Express Flight 7 | image = Boeing,_247.jpg | caption = A Boeing 247 similar to the aircraft involved | date = January 12, 1937 | summary = Controlled flight into terrain | occurrence_type = Accident | site = Los Pinetos Peak, near<br/>Saugus and Newhall, California | coordinates = | aircraft_type = Boeing 247D | aircraft_name = | operator = Western Air Express | tail_number = NC13315 | origin = Salt Lake City, Utah | destination = Burbank, California | passengers = 10 | crew = 3 | injuries = | fatalities = 5 | survivors = 8 | occupants = 13 }}

'''Western Air Express Flight 7''', a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Salt Lake City to Burbank, California, crashed on January 12, 1937, near Newhall, California. The twin engine Boeing 247D, registration NC13315, crashed shortly after 11:00 a.m. in adverse weather conditions. Of the three crew and ten passengers on board, one crew member and four passengers perished. One of the fatalities was noted international adventurer and filmmaker Martin Johnson, of Martin and Osa Johnson fame.<ref>[http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1937/1937-1.htm PlaneCrashInfo]</ref>

The off-course Boeing 247D, ''en route'' from Salt Lake City, was on approach to the Union Air Terminal at Burbank, California in severely lowered visibility due to heavy rain and fog. On suddenly spotting a ridge looming directly ahead, pilot William L. Lewis cut power to the engines and "pancaked" onto the hillside to reduce the force of the impact.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=1937-01-25 |title=Transport: Wreck and Radio |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,770565-1,00.html |access-date=2023-02-15 |issn=0040-781X}}</ref>

The airliner first struck the ground with the left wing tip. It then skidded along the side of the mountain in a curved path for approximately 125 feet, finally coming to rest headed in the opposite direction from which it struck. The point of collision was at an elevation of 3,550 feet, near the summit of Los Pinetos, the highest mountain in the immediate vicinity.<ref name="official">{{cite web | url = https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/32993 | title = Report of the Accident Board; Western Air Express near Newhall, California, on January 12, 1937 | publisher = Department of Commerce | date = May 12, 1937 | access-date = June 1, 2021}} – [https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/32993/dot_32993_DS1.pdf PDF]</ref>

One passenger died immediately and three more died within a week, as did the co-pilot, C. T. Owens. Martin Johnson died of a fractured skull while hospitalized. His wife Osa suffered back and neck injuries but continued with the couple’s lecture circuit, doing so from her wheelchair.<ref name="osa01">[https://web.archive.org/web/20081231230457/http://www.kshs.org:80/portraits/johnson_osa.htm Kansas State Historical Society - Profile of Osa Johnson]</ref> She later sued Western Air Express and United Airports Co of California for $502,539, but lost on appeal in 1941.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121022115335/https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/413534431.html?dids=413534431:413534431&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+01%2C+1941&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Osa+Johnson+Loses+Appeal&pqatl=google Osa Johnson Loses Appeal], ''Los Angeles Times'', July 1, 1941, p. A14 - brief excerpt. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/128243758/ Clip] at Newspapers.com.</ref> The California Supreme Court chose not to hear her appeal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Osa Johnson Loses Appeal in Lawsuit Over Mate's Death|newspaper=The Long Beach Sun|place=Long Beach, California|agency=United Press International|date=1941-08-29|page=A-3}} - [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/128243494/ Clip] at Newspapers.com.</ref>

One of the survivors was a 25-year-old passenger who managed to hike five miles down the mountainside where he met rescuers from the Olive View Sanitarium who were searching for the accident site.

The accident was investigated by the Accident Board of the Bureau of Air Commerce, under the authority of the Department of Commerce.<ref name="official"/> The cause was attributed to the adverse weather conditions, coupled with the pilot’s decision to descend to a dangerously low altitude without positive knowledge of his position.<ref name="official"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{cite news | url = http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,770565,00.html | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130204081818/http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,770565,00.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = February 4, 2013 | title = Transport: Wreck and Radio | magazine = TIME | date = January 25, 1937 | accessdate =  }} * {{cite web | url = http://www.travelfilmarchive.com/item.php?id=11894 | title = 1934 travelogue film featuring the Boeing 247 | work = travelfilmarchive.com | accessdate =  }} - includes brief glimpse of NC13315 at 06:00 mark. [https://media2.travelfilmarchive.com/TFA/MF-4E.mp4 MP4 file here] * {{cite web | url = http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/ds3701.htm | title = Santa Clarita Valley History in Pictures, ''Boeing 274 Crash, 1937''] | work = scvhistory.com. | accessdate =  }} - includes wreckage photographs * {{cite news | url = http://www.scvhistory.com/scvhistory/sg011437.htm | title = Another Airplane Crash Kills 2 | newspaper = The Newhall Signal and Saugus Enterprise | date = January 14, 1937 | accessdate =  }} - names of passengers & crew * {{cite news | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9swLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=N1UDAAAAIBAJ&dq=saugus&pg=6429%2C1217013 | title = Crash Kills Martin Johnson | agency = AP | work = The Evening Independent | location = St. Petersburg, Florida | date = January 13, 1937 | pages = 1–2 | accessdate =  }} * {{cite news | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=EAELAAAAIBAJ&sjid=f1ADAAAAIBAJ&dq=saugus&pg=5830%2C499147 | title = Martin Johnson Second Crash Victim | agency = AP | work = The Prescott Evening Courier | date = January 13, 1937 | pages = 1, 3 | accessdate =  }} (related to above ''Evening Independent'' article, but edited with alternate content)

{{coord|34.354|-118.459|type:event_globe:earth_region:US-CA|display=title}} {{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1937}} {{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in the 1930s}}

Category:Airliner accidents and incidents in California Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1937 Category:1937 in California Category:1937 in Los Angeles Category:Disasters in Los Angeles Category:History of Los Angeles County, California Category:Santa Clarita, California 7 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Boeing 247