Pan
American Flight
V-1104
“The Philippine Clipper”
NC 14715, January 21,
1943
Copyright 2006
By: Don R. Jordan
Figure
1. The Martin M 130 Flying Boat.
(Pan Am publicity photo)
In the late 1930s and 40s the Martin
M 130 Flying Boat was in a class of its own for long-range, over-water
commercial flight. There were only
three of these behemoths ever built.
All three aircraft were sold to and operated by Pan American
Airways.
This all metal, four engine aircraft was a virtual ship with wings, and
was at
the time (1935) the largest aircraft ever built in the United States. This particular M 130 was named “Philippine
Clipper”. Its sister ships were named Hawaiian Clipper, and the most
famous was
the “China Clipper. Over
the years the
name “China Clipper” would become synonymous with all of the M 130
flying
boat.
The “Hawaiian Clipper” (NC-14714)
was the first of the trio to come to grief.
On July 29, 1938 it would mysteriously disappear over the
Pacific Ocean
while enroute between Manila and Guam.
The “Philippine Clipper” (NC-14715) would crash into a hilltop
in thick
fog on January 21, 1943. And the “China
Clipper" (NC-14716) would crash at Port of Spain, Trinidad on January
8,
1945. By
that time Pan American Airways
had begun purchasing the even larger Boeing B-314 Flying Boat for its
commercial flee. By
that time Pan American Airways
had begun purchasing the even larger Boeing B-314 Flying Boat for its
commercial fleet.
This is the
story of the last flight of the “Philippine Clipper” which crashed on
the
California coast near Booneville after arriving from Honolulu, Hawaii. On board that final flight were nine
crewmembers and ten passengers. All
were instantly killed when the aircraft slammed into a small peak at
the
2,500-foot level in thick fog at 7:30 that morning.
The aircraft had departed Pearl Harbor at 5:30 p.m. the night
before, and expected to reach San Francisco at approximately 10:18 a.m.
on the 21st.
The primary
flight crew on this flight was Robert M. Elzey, aged 36, Captain, and
Orven K.
Judd, aged 23, First Officer. The
navigator was listed as John R. Maynard, aged 28. Elzey
was a former Naval Aviator before joining Pan American
Airways, and had accumulated a total of approximately 4,941 hours of
flying
time. He had more than 3,359 hours in
Pan American’s flying boats alone.
According to all radio traffic between
the aircraft and both Hawaii, and the Mainland United States the
progress of
the flight throughout that night was entirely normal.
The only abnormality encountered was a fairly strong tail wind,
which would allow the aircraft to arrive over the Bay area about three
and a
half hours earlier than expected. At 5:35 a.m. the flight notified the
Flight
Watch Officer (FWO) at Treasure Island, across the bay from San
Francisco,
that they
expected to land at about 6:35 a.m. At 6:18 a.m. the flight amended
their
arrival time to 7:10 a.m. At 6:22 a.m.
the FWO at Treasure Island gave Captain Elzey the current pre-dawn
surface
weather conditions. The weather was
very poor indeed with heavy rain, strong winds, low ceilings and
visibility of
only 1 to 2 miles. The wind, blowing
across the bay at 45 kts., was creating a surface too rough to land on
before
daybreak. The FWO suggested to Elzey
that he divert to the alternate landing area at San Diego about two
hours
flying time to the south.
In a new book
by Don R. Jordan, due for release in early 2007, you'll read how this
very large weather system affected the outcome of the flight.
You'll also read the final radio transcript between the FWO at Treasure
Island, and the Philippine Clipper as it was trying to find a way down
through the thick overcast above the San Francisco Bay.
Don R. Jordan