Laguna Mountains, CA Plane Crashes En Route To San Diego, Dec 1946

12 BELIEVED DEAD IN PLANE CRASH IN CALIFORNIA.

San Diego, Cal. (UP) -- Officials held little hope today that any of the 12 persons aboard a Western Air transport plane missing since Christmas eve would be found alive.
Fog so thick it forced patrol planes to fly by instrument halted the search, centered 60 miles east of here, at sundown yesterday. The coast guard said its planes would be back in the air at dawn today.
Scores of deputy sheriffs, ranchers, and forest rangers who combed the mountains on foot and on horseback also called off the search. A party of eight, led by RUDY FROWISS of El Centro, Cal., brother-in-law of passenger EDGAR MARTIN, continued through the night.
Chances Remote.
Chances for survivors among the nine holiday-bound passengers and three crew members appeared remote. Ranchers and three high school boys reported they saw a flash and a fire in the mountains 11 minutes after the two-engined DC-3 made its last radio report, and a housewife who also saw the flash said it was followed by an explosion.
Coast Guard pilot Lt. IRA McMULLEN reported he saw a "silver tail through the overcast" 10 miles east of Mount Laguna and other wreckage scattered over a wide area. Visibility was so poor that searchers were unable to identify the wreckage definitely.
The rugged Laguna mountain area has been the scene of frequent plane crashes, including that of an American airliner last March 3 with a loss of 28 lives.
A marine corps detachment of 25 men, equipped with stretchers, first aid and rations, was participating in the search. Under-sheriff HENRY J. ADAMS was in charge of the ground party.
Bound For San Diego.
The plane, bound for San Diego from El Centro, Cal., last was heard from at 7:09 p. m. Christmas Eve when Pilot GEORGE SPRADO radioed he was over Mount Laguna at an eleveation of 7,000 feet. At that time he said everything was "okay" and visibility excellent. The low fog closed in soon after the plane disappeared, shrouding its fate.
SPRADO'S bride of a year was waiting for him beside their gaily decorated Christmas tree in their Santa Monica home when she heard radio calls from the control tower vainly trying to contact his flight.
"I knew something was wrong when calls for flight 44 went unanswered," MRS. LOUISE SPRADO said. "It has happened before, however, so I was not particularly upset. I still believe everything will come out all right."
The heavy fog made aerial reconnaissance almost impossible yesterday, although three navy planes and a western airliner droned continuously over the mountains. Hunting on foot and horseback was slowed by manzanita brush often 20 feet tall that bearded the slopes.
WAL officials said they had not given up hope for the passengers and crew, pointing out that radio transmission is difficult in the mountain area. Deputy sheriffs felt, however, that any survivors would have been able to reach communications or make some signal by this time.

Dunkirk Evening Observer New York 1946-12-26

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12 BODIES FOUND IN WRECKAGE OF WESTERN PLANE.

San Diego, Cal., (UP) -- Rescuers fought their way, head-down in a blizzard today, to remove the bodies of 12 persons from the wreckage of a Western Airliner which smashed into boulder strewn Cuyapaipe peak on Christmas eve.
The crash scene was located yesterday on a rugged promintory in the towering Laguna mountain range between San Diego and Imperial Valley, 50 miles east of here. All aboard apparenently had been killed instantly.
Down Dangerous Trail.
The blizzard made it impossible to remove the bodies until today.
Coroner C. D. GUNN led 25 marines and 11 forest service men from the Cameron guard station at dawn in the first effort to reach the wind-swept peak and remove the bodies on litters down the tortuous three-mile trail to THING ranch.
They were to be taken from there by automobile to three San Diego mortuaries.
It took the search party more than six hours yesterday to fight its way through the two feet of snow and reach the plane.
Ten victims, some burned badly, were found scattered amont fragments of the wreckage over a 300-foot area. Two were believed buried in the charred fuselage.
Find Tail Wing.
Searchers in the almost zero visibility of the raging snowstorms, found the plane's unburned wings and tail rising like tombstones from the snow.
"It was a grueling, shocking experience," said E. A. FITZHUGH, El Centro Post-Press editor. He was a member of an independent searching party of which found the plane.
The search party was led by "HAPPY" MILAN, Jacumba cowboy, who said he had a "hunch" where to find the wreck because his horse "acted spooky" when he rode near there yesterday.
"One of our party shouted 'I see it' as we searched on the peak, slipping on the rocks and in the mud," FITZHUGH reported.
"We all ran. Amid falling snow, sleet, and fog, we inspected the bodies to learn if any were alive . All were dead."
Veteran Pilot.
"We marked the location and returned along the Thing valley road to the highway to notify the official rescue parties."
Western Airline officials, at a loss to explain the crash 100 feet below the peak's 6,375 foot crest, said civil aeronautics authorities were starting an immediate investigation. The pilot Capt. GEORGE SPRANDO, Santa Monica, veteran of 22 years of flying, apparently was slightly off course or misgauged his altitude. The sky was overcast with first clouds of the approaching storm at the time.

Dunkirk Evening Observer New York 1946-12-28

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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!