At 11:20 in the morning, on April 8, 1946, 1st. Lt. Woodrow W. Davis, age 30 was killed when he flew an  Army C-45F  into the side of Mt. Diablo.  He had departed from Oakland, California airfield at 11:05.  With him on  this flight was Major William J. Kettler.  Maj. Kettler was listed as a passenger on the Flight Plan.  Mt. Diablo is the second highest  peak in the Bay Area with the summit at 3,849 ft. above sea level (MSL).

     Lt. Davis' request for a Contact Flight Plan was denied due to poor weather conditions.  Instead, he was issued an IFR Flight Plan from Air Traffic Control with the following clearance,

      "Oakland Airways Traffic Control clears you to the Los Angeles tower. Take off west, climb    on the northwest course of the Oakland Range, cross Fairfield at 3,000 feet, climb southwest on the southwest course of Fairfield range, southwest bound to 500 on top.  Descend in accordance with contact flight rules to Los Angeles, or maintain 500 on top if not possible–remain 500 on top and advise–Over"

     Lt. Davis' read back was correct.  Then he was told that the clearance void time was 11:05.  In other words, he had 45 seconds to think about and understand the clearance, then get airborne.  There is no doubt he was advancing the throttles with the pencil still in his hand.

     Once airborne, he made a right turnout as instructed.  At 11:15, Army 7062 made a position report and stated that he was at 3,000 feet on the north east leg of the Oakland range.  It appeared that Lt. Davis had misunderstood his clearance and turned the wrong way.  This was the last radio contact with Army 7062.

    In the new book, "Aircraft Wrecks in The Mountains and Deserts of California", (3rd edition), by G. Pat Macha and Don R. Jordan, you will read what happened to Lt. Davis and Major Kettler.  A few of the pictures taken on our trip to the wreck site can been seen here.

    Published by Info Net Publishing, this book is now available at all retail book stores, or by contacting  Don R. Jordan directly.