February 18, 1969: Nevada CAP Sends out Ground Teams to Crash That Killed 35

Image by Thom Watson via Flickr

On this date in 1969, the Nevada Civil Air Patrol sent out ground teams to look for a DC-3 that crashed after a trip gambling in Nevada. The crash killed all 35 people on board.

Don Jordan also has an extensive write-up about the tragedy.

An excerpt from the AP story:

Hawthorne, Nev. (AP) -- A plane carrying 35 persons back to Southern California after a night of Nevada gambline vanished Tuesday in the mountainous desert of the California-Nevada border 200 miles north of Los Angeles.  An all-day ground hunt in a drizzling overcast produced no clues, and only one search plane was able to get aloft.  A rancher 60 miles south of Hawthorne reported he heard a low-flying plane at 4:20 a.m. The Civil Air Patrol sent two ground search teams into the area.  "It sounds good. It is a good lead," said Col. JAMES HELM of the CAP Walker Lake Squadron.

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