85 died 50 years ago in worst Tahoe plane crash
By Bill Kingman and Kathryn Reed
The worst plane crash in Lake Tahoe’s history was 50 years ago on March 1, 1964, when all 85 people on board the Paradise Airlines flight died.
They were coming from the Bay Area to Lake Tahoe Airport, then known as Tahoe Valley Airport, in South Lake Tahoe when the plane struck Genoa Peak.
Weather at Tahoe was snow, alternating with clearing, then back to snow. It was heavy at times.
The captain had aborted his first landing approach due to near-zero visibility and then tried to loop around. But he failed to clear the trees atop Genoa Peak.
By early afternoon, it was apparent that the Paradise Airlines propeller-powered Lockheed Constellation in bound from San Jose to Tahoe was missing.
Search craft spotted the wreckage at the crest of Genoa Peak the next morning. Snow covered much of the debris.
This is a Lockheed Constellation at Tahoe Valley Airport in 1963. Photo/Dave Borges
The peak has an elevation of 8,675 feet. Speculation is that had the plane been 300 feet higher it could have cleared the peak.
All 81 passengers and four crew members, including the airline’s chief pilot, died.
Another pilot warned the Paradise of icing at 12,000 feet, according to Aviation Safety Network.
The cause of the crash was ruled, “The pilot’s deviation from prescribed [visual flight rules] flight procedures in attempting a visual landing approach in adverse weather conditions. This resulted in an abandoned approach and geographical disorientation while flying below the minimum altitude prescribed for operations in mountainous areas.”
There was no tower at the airport then. One was built later, but today it is not operational.
The Civil Aeronautics Board grounded the airline.
Mike Ritter would ride motorcycles up the dirt roads north of Kingsbury Grade in the early 1970s. In 1973, he came across the crash site.
The crash site in October 2013. Photo/Chuck Westby
“The crash site was fascinating, particularly to a former Air Force radar controller who’d read his share of aircraft accident reports and even participated in a few,” Ritter told Lake Tahoe News. “The crash site was about 10 years old by that time, but we could stand on the ridge looking west and see the path of the aircraft as it crashed through the tree tops, cutting them off. It appeared, from that path of broken tree tops, that the aircraft hit about 30 feet below the ridge and spread a debris field over the top and down the east side of the mountain. With the exception of what looked to be a very large landing gear strut, most of identifiable pieces of the plane had been removed. But the bushes on the east slope were covered with small deteriorating scraps of blue and grey plastic material, very likely upholstery covers and/or cabin trim. At the peak of the ridge, centered on the impact site, visitors, probably over a period of time, had built a rock cairn, close to 6-feet tall and personal property that folks had found around the crash site – wallets, shoes, glasses etc. – had been placed on the rocks of the cairn. I was impressed with how respectfully the site seemed to have been treated.”
As a runner he revisited the site on occasion. Eventually the debris was removed or nature covered it.
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The Paradise Airlines crash was a horrble tragedy. From certain places on So. Shore you could see the sun reflecting off the wreckage that summer.
Our friend and neighbor, Joe Annoni (he owned the motel across from ours) drove his Willys Jeep pick up as far as it would go that following summer, then he hiked the rest of the way to the crash site. He told us he saw lots of shoes amid all the twisted wreckage. Glad I didn’t go along for THAT jeep ride!
I hope all the flights leavng or coming in to Lake Tahoe Airport have a safe journey. OLS
There is still a shrine of sorts up there and totally recognizable pieces if airplane wreckage such as seats and fuselage that is right next to one of the Forest Service roads. The actual crash site is about 1 mile south of Genoa Peak along the ridge.
I have a brass part from a gyro instrument from that airplane that I’ve been using as a paperweight for decades. Pilots are taught to follow ‘the rules and regs’, deviating and taking chances can bring a lot of sorrow, as that flight did. There is no excuse for the Paradise pilot for not deviating to another airport; and no excuse for taking off with, apparently, malfunctioning equipment. I sure remember flying out of the old airport next to Kayle Drive. Have photos of that strip from those ever-so-long-ago years. Tahoe Valley’s present airport is a very good a safe mountain airport, if one respects the rules and flies safely. I wish we had commercial service here….in quiet aircraft, of course. I kept two of the small aircraft I have owned in the old hangars at TVL. With a partner we installed the 20+ hangars to the West of the fuel pumps at the Carson City Airport, a long time ago. I used to instruct and do charter work out of TVL. Too darn expensive to own an aircraft now that I am mostly retired; I will probably just rent them now and then for a bit of local pleasure flying or maybe go in on a bird with a couple of partners..?
BTW…there are some shrines/markers for other crashes around Tahoe. There is one in the Camp Richardson area, usually pass by it when cross-country skiing there. We’ve had several small dirt airports in this area that are now long gone. Borges gave a very interesting talk, and had photos, maps, etc., one night at the Historical Society meeting at Camp Rich…think that was a year+ ago.
My grandfather was on this plane. He was traveling with some prominent businessman of the time. They were headed to a retreat where they were to discuss expanding their grocery stores into a chain. He was to be their first regional manager. If it weren’t for this crash we’d probably have Monte Marts where we now have Safeway’s and Albertson’s.
Thanks Bill and Kae for this article. As a kid, I remember well this accident. In high school some buddies and I drove as far as we could in a jeep, then hiked the rest of the way to the crash site. It was as described by earlier folks. Very eerie to be there and visualize what happend and how bad it must have been. Bill, you are such a wealth of Tahoe history. Good to hear from you.
Thanks for relating this story. It’s important to memorialize these accidents and the people who died. My Uncle Jack Copple and an associate, along with their pilot, went down on Tioga Pass in Yosemite a month later, on April 3rd, 1964. They all survived, but Jack was paralyzed from the injuries he received.
I remember this tragedy very well. My sister was upset because one of the passengers of that fateful flight was Tony Devine, a well known young man in the community and my sister probably had a crush on him as well as many other young women. To this day, we’ve never discussed this incident. The pilot was foolish to deviate from the prescribed VFR flight plan and attempt a landing in such dangerous weather plus to leave San Jose airport with a malfunctioning instrument was unconscionable. Every time I look at the side of that ridge from the valley, I visualize that crash.
Bill, your stories are always so full of history, interesting, and the pictures, well they serve as great views of the history of the growth here. I look forward to them. Please keep them coming. Thanks!
While a senior at San Jose State I sat in the “3 Star Bar” on First Street in downtown San Jose and had talked about signing up for the group trip to Lake Tahoe sponsored by the “3 Star Bar”. A few more beers and the right circumstances, I could have been on that flight. Four of the passengers were fellow San Jose State classmates and acquaintances of mine. Two were fellow PE majors, one was Tony Devine, and one a sister of a future roommates girl friend. I have been searching for a passengers list to refresh my memory and have not been able to find one. Can anyone help me with that. Tony was a very charismatic classmate.
Les Wright, I’m glad you weren’t on that flight. You’re an asset to the community. Sorry for the loss of your friends. I went thru a few old Tribunes but couldn’t find a passenger list.
If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have had to run all those laps at the Intermediate school (man, I hated doing that!) Oh well, ancient history now.
Take care, Old Long Skiis, who doesn’t have to run laps anymore. A casual walk is more my style nowadays.
What a horrible tragedy and so preventable. You can feel the loss when standing on the hillside at the site.
The crash was caused by repeated unsuccessful repairs of altimeter/instruments previously attempted before the flight, and the airline’s ground representative falsely reporting conditions at the Tahoe Airport.
It’s an example of how human ignorance and greed can literally cause a catastrophic crash like this.
It’s a catastrophic possibility that will resume if the Lake Tahoe Airport attempts to resume commercial flights again.
That day there was a flight out of Oakland to Tahoe that was cancelled. They bused people to San Jose to take the doomed flight.
My mom and some of her friends were supposed to be on the flight , but elected to go to Sweets Ballroom instead of busing to San Jose.
A lot of our family thought they had taken the flight to Tahoe. They were relieved when she called them next morning telling them she didn’t take the flight.
Today talking about the missing Malaysia flight brought up memories for my mom. Still going strong at 82