Incident Overview

Description
Transocean Air Lines Flight 942 departed Roswell at 12:11 for Oakland. The flight was for the purpose of transporting military personnel. After departing Roswell the flight progressed in a routine manner and at 14:51, when in the vicinity of Winslow, Arizona, the Defense VFR flight plan was changed to IFR, still at least 500 feet on top of clouds. At 18:19 the flight reported over the Newark, California, compass locator and fan marker at 8,000 feet where it held for 11 minutes. At 18:27, Oakland Approach Control cleared Flight 942 for a straight-in range approach, to descend in the holding pattern to cross the Newark compass locator at 3,500 feet and to report leaving each 1,000-foot level. Three minutes later, at 18:30, the flight reported leaving 8,000 feet, and subsequently reported leaving each 1,000-foot level. At 18:36, it reported being at 3,500 feet leaving the Newark compass locator inbound. Almost immediately thereafter the aircraft became uncontrollable. The aircraft descended in a steep right wing low slipping attitude until it crashed in a large flat field near Alvarado, CA. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The loss of control of the aircraft for reasons unknown, during its descent from the Newark compass locator.”
Primary Cause
Loss of control during descent from the Newark compass locator.Loss of control during descent from the Newark compass locator.Share on: