FSX-SE When the mountain could not stop the DC3...

[P_7878 6,609]

[Note: This is quite an incredible story that I came across while looking around, into "Old" Frontier Airline's history (please see my previous post). And, as I'd indicated there, that curiosity was prompted to me after catching sight of a DC-3 (USAF military version C-47), interestingly, repainted in the color of the "Old" Frontier Airlines. The repaint belongs to a "Memorial Repaint Collection" as tribute to Mr. Frank Gonzalez, who was a prolific repainter of numerous classic aircraft. To appreciate the depth and breadth of Frank's repainting, "CalClassic" has neatly placed them together, in one place, (if you wish, please visit the CalClassic website, then down the webpage to the link "Frank Gonzalez Memorial Repaint Collection"). Today, I clicked almost all of the images/repaints there....a wonderful collection, indeed, of numerous vintage airlines and airliners, if you're so interested...!]

Anyway, back to the remarkable story of Frontier's Douglas DC-3 (N65276). To aid this story, here, I've shown below a set of (symbolic) images of an "Old" Frontier DC-3, which, btw, had triggered the initial thoughts for (my) this and also the (previous) post. Please note, though, that the (DC3) repaint below, while representative of the actual DC-3 of the story, is not identical to it, and further, I'm not replicating the story, in this post, but, instead, have (merely) shown my (virtual) DC3 lifting off Phoenix (AZ) and flying over the Rocky Mountains (see screenshots), just as the "Old" Frontier DC-3s (12 of those) must have flown, at one point, over and around those mountains, to nearly 70 (nearby) cities/towns, many of which, had never before seen an Airline, and some, never will...(see MAP of coverage in my previous post)...

The more I explored this (DC3) incidence, the more fascinating, it turned out, and proved yet another testament to the legendary reputation and strength of the Douglas DC-3 (the one-time saying been, "the only replacement for a DC-3 is another DC-3"), and, the story also illustrates admirable dedication on the part of the Airmen, who were involved with this specific DC3. Below is the key sequence of events, in a nutshell, collected from various records of the incidence:

1. On April 21, 1957, at 1:21pm, a DC-3 operating as Frontier Airlines Flight 7 departed Prescott, Arizona, under (VFR) visual flight rules en-route to Phoenix, Arizona. On board the flight, were 23 passengers and crew of 3 (two in the cockpit and one in the cabin).
2. The 80-miles/40-mins flight, would require, (VFR) navigation at 6,500 feet, skirting two mountain ranges, the Bradshaw Mountains on the right, and the New River Mountains on the left. The DC3's scheduled run, that day, was between Denver (CO) and Phoenix (AZ), with 6 prior/intermediate stops been already (routinely) completed, and this was the final leg.
3. On arrival at Prescott, the Captain visually inspected the skies towards Phoenix, along the valley, and could see clearly enough to request continued VFR flight. As the flight took off and progressed to approximately 35 miles of Prescott, the weather report indicated cloud overcast present at 10,000 feet and light/scattered rain showers. The flight continued to encounter some mild turbulence, as earlier, and, then, the crew began to observe buildup of cloud-layers to the far southeast. Five minutes later, when the DC3 reached about half-way point, between Prescott and Phoenix, the weather started to close in, with overcast already down to 7,500 feet, and intermittent rain showers further restricted visibility, and conditions eventually became marginal.
4. At 1:39pm, the crew requested clearance for IFR. IFR was granted at 1:44pm with instruction to climb to 7,000 feet. Around the same time, the airspeed of the DC3, started to fall off, in the developing mountainous weather, and, in spite of cranked-up power, valuable altitude was being lost, with the altimeter now indicating a dangerous 4,500 feet. Moments later, with engines straining at full throttle, the DC3's left wing hit a mountain slope, in a nose-up attitude. Later analysis would reveal that, in the collision, approximately 12 feet of the outer portion of the left wing/aileron was sheared off the airplane (the original aileron being of 26 feet in length).
5. Rest of the story is (more) history....the DC3 staggered from the impact and tumbled to its left, while the Captain immediately decreased power to the right engine and applied full right rudder. Despite the severe vibrations caused by the impact, the rugged DC3 slowly straightened up (away from the point of impact), responded to the controls, to level flight, first, and, then was able to climb to the (IFR) assigned altitude of 7,000 feet. The battered aircraft managed to reach home (to Phoenix), without any further incidence, and landed safely. No one (of the 26 people on board) was hurt or injured.

Of course, it always feels great to read an aviation story with a good ending, like this one...!

Nearly half-a-century after the incidence, in 2005, a dedicated group of Airmen and volunteers, through painstaking and perilous efforts, finally got to locate and recover the sheared-off pieces of the DC3's left wing. Among other breaks in the recovery, a former Frontier Captain had theorized that the piece of the wing might have bounced over the top of the mountain and down the other side, which was indeed the case. To the final recovery team, a mere three tenths of a mile from the bottom of that mountain to the top, took three and half hours to reach. The broken-off pieces of the wing were recovered, carefully assembled together, and donated to a museum in Tucson, Arizona, for future display, as an aviation exhibit. In conclusion of this story, here is the (final) bit of coincidence that amazed me most, "...just weeks after the wing/aileron artifacts were recovered, lightening struck the mountain top where the strewn aircraft parts had laid for so many years, and everything burned...", so, a significant piece of this DC3's (amazing) history was, so to speak, saved just in time....and, the separated/recovered piece of the wing has been referred to as "Welling's Wing" named in honor of the Captain of that fateful flight, who had successfully guided the stricken aircraft to safety...

So, please find, below, a set of (evocative) images of a Frontier DC-3, lifting off Phoenix/KPHX, AZ, along with a few images of it flying over the majestic Rockies, the home grounds of the "Old" Frontier Airlines...(And, if I ever get another chance to get on board a "New" Frontier Airlines A320neo, and get to take a peek at the Tail, maybe, for the picture of "Hudson the Bog Turtle", supposedly the smallest turtle known to the United States, I would have lots to think of, regarding "Old" Frontier's past history too...🙂....)...

Thanks for your interest...!!

[Manfred Jahn (C-47), MSE (AZ/CO), REX]

[Luis Hernandez 570]

Nice pictures and even nicer story!

Now, if I want to nitpick: the left wing is complete 😛

[jmdriskell 178]

Them Goony's were tough birds!

[untoweechja 35]

Great story.

My first flight was in an "old" Frontier DC-3, exact same livery, from Grand Junction, CO to Salt Lake City, UT.  This was in 1970, so I suspect it was one of the few remaining DC-3's in their fleet by that time.  My little brother and I (I was 7, he was 5) were treated like royalty on that flight and the captain even gave us a grand tour of the cockpit afterwards.  Definitely inspired my life-long love of aviation.

Our return flight was in a much newer Convair, but it's the flight in the DC-3 I remember most.

[Alaska738 8,407]

Very nice shots! 😉

[P_7878 6,609]

Luis, James, Richard, Alask738:

Much appreciated the comments and remembrances....(it was a special plane, all right,...I have visited a (static) Exhibit of it...forget exactly where...)...!

[overspeed3 410]

I not surprised that the old Gooney Bird whipped that mountain and made it safely home...

Thanks for that bit of interesting aeronautical history.

 

[Ben Humler 31]

Great aviation story , flight and screenshots , wow .