1956 — Sep 24, USAF Douglas C-47 plane crash, Mount Yale near Buena Vista, CO–all 12

— 12 ASN. Accident description. USAF Douglas VC-47A, Mount Yale, CO, 24 Sep 1956.
— 12 Coloradowreckchasing.com. “Mt. Yale C-47.” 4-12-2009.
— 12 Greeley Daily Tribune, CO. “Bodies from Plane Wreck Removed Tues.” 9-26-1956, p.7.
— 12 Raleigh Register, Beckley, WV. “C47 Crash Kills All 12 Aboard.” 9-25-1956, p.1.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network: “Registration: 43-48146
“C/n / msn: 13962/25407
“First flight: 1944

“….Fatalities: 12 / Occupants: 12…” (Aviation Safety Network. Accident description. United States Air Force, Douglas VC-47A, Mount Yale, CO, 24 Sep 1956. 7-13-2009.)

Newspapers

Sep 24: “Buena Vista, Colo. (AP) – A “large airplane” was reported to have crashed Monday in rugged timberland atop the Continental Divide but Undersheriff Harold Thonhoff said he did not believe it was a commercial craft. The plane plummeted down on the north slope of 14,172-foot Mt. Yale and burst into flames. An Army helicopter from Camp Hale, made two flights over the crash area but reported it was unable to land. The pilot sighted no survivors. He said that the plane plowed into a huge rock slide. Only one wing remained intact. A check of Civil Aeronautics Authorities disclosed that no commercial aircraft were missing. Local airport officials said all planes under their control were accounted for. There was early and unofficial speculation that the airplane, which was thought to be two-engined, was a private craft. There was no immediate way to determine how many passengers might have been aboard.

“The Continental Air Defense Command filter center at Colorado Springs reported a ground observer post at Buena Vista had reported that a civilian plane, painted yellow, had crashed.

“Warden Thomas of the Colo. State Reformatory said air force rescue pilots from Colorado Springs who flew over the crash said there was an “enormous burned area, and no survivors.” Thomas said the pilots weren’t sure whether it was a two-engine or a four-engine plane. The plane apparently crashed on a rock slide above timberline. The fire did not spread because there are no trees or other vegetation. On the basis of first reports, Thomas said he believed a ground party, which was being organized, could drive in Jeeps to within two or three miles of the crash site. Sheriff officers were organizing the ground party but Thomas said it would take them several hours to reach the wreckage. Thomas said the inmates who saw the crash, about 10 airline miles from Buena Vista, reported the plane “started-to spin” and then crashed. Ronald Little, equipment manager for the State Highway Dept. at Buena Vista, also reported seeing the plane crash. He said the plane was heading west and estimated it might have been of sufficient size to carry 10 passengers. Little said the plane appeared to go into a spin before crashing….” (Greeley Daily Tribune, CO. “Airplane Crashes and Burns on Mount Yale.” 9-24-1956, p. 1.)

Sep 25: “Buena Vista, Colo. – (AP) – All 12 persons aboard an Air Force C47 were killed yesterday when the twin-engine craft plunged into the sheer northwest edge of 14,172-foot Mt. Yale. A joint Army-Air Force team equipped with mules started an accent to the 11,500-foot level to return the bodies. Among the victims, who included both civilians and military personnel, was a red-haired Women’s Army Corps enlisted woman. The bodies were found by a seven-man team which rode and climbed for five hours to reach the scene….

“The plane was attached to the Continental Air Defense Command at Colorado Springs, Colo. A
spokesman there said it left about 9:30 a.m. on a flight to Hamilton Air Force Base, near San Francisco. Watches on the bodies of the victims had stopped at 10:10.

“Allen Fitzgerald, an employe of the Colorado Reformatory here, flew over the crash scene at midday, and later guided the first rescue team to the site.” (Raleigh Register, Beckley, WV. “C47 Crash Kills All 12 Aboard.” 9-25-1956, p. 1.)

Sep 26: “Buena Vista (AP) – Scattered wreckage and pitifully torn bodies hid the secret Tuesday of what caused an Air Force C47 to crash against a towering Colorado mountain in sunny weather.

“All 12 aboard the two-engine craft perished in the crash on Mt. Yale, 14,172 feet high. The plane struck near the edge of timberline Monday. The craft was on its way from the Continental Air Defense Command at Colorado Springs to Hamilton Air Force Base near San Francisco.

“Its pilot, Col. Charles A. Miller, 49, was an intelligence officer at CONAD. Also killed were three Air Force men, five soldiers, an old sailor on his way to a new assignment and a red-haired sergeant of the Women’s Air Force, Helen M. Schuyler of Stewart Air Force Base, Newburgh, N.Y.

“The plane rammed into the rocky face of Mt. Yale in the Collegiate Range of peaks 12 miles west of Buena Vista and about 120 miles airline southwest of Denver.

“Air Force men with Jeeps and mules toiled up the mountain Tuesday to recover and bring out the dead, but it was tortuous work. The removal operation was completed at 6:30 p.m. when the bodies were placed in ambulances and taken to Colorado Springs. Relatives have been notified to take custody of them there….” (Greeley Daily Tribune, CO. “Bodies from Plane Wreck Removed Tues.” 9-26-1956, p. 7.)

Coloradowreckchasing.com. “Mt. Yale C-47.” 4-12-2009:

“Casualties: Pilot- Col. Charles Arthur Miller, USAF. Hometown – Kempner, TX
Co-Pilot- Capt. James Joseph Richardson, USN. Hometown – Shelby County, TN
Col. Frederick W. Ledeboer. Los Angeles, CA.
Crew Chief S/Sgt William E MacKenzie, Jr. Oakland, CA.
Oscar M. Rupert (civilian) Dayton, OH.
Seaman 1/c William R. Carpenter. Colo. Springs
Sgt. Phillip Lenz (no home given)
M/Sgt Helen M. Schuyler, WAF

“4 others not identified in the newspaper report but names supplied by Len Wallace

Capt. David C. Jacobs 8th Medical Battalion
First Lt. David W. Gill 8th Replacement Company
SP-3 William L. Simpson 8th Division Military Police
Pvt. William R. Rooney Headquarters Battery, 45th Field Artillery.”

Sources

Aviation Safety Network. Accident description. United States Air Force, Douglas VC-47A, Mount Yale, CO, 24 Sep 1956. 7-13-2009. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19560924-0

Coloradowreckchasing.com. “Mt. Yale C-47.” 4-12-2009. Accessed 1-3-2012 at: http://coloradowreckchasing.com/YaleDC3/YaleDC3.html

Greeley Daily Tribune, CO. “Bodies from Plane Wreck Removed Tues.” 9-26-1956, 7. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=56653762

Raleigh Register, Beckley WV. “C47 Crash Kills All 12 Aboard.” 9-25-1956, 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=144169190