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Hughes Airwest flight 706 Wreckchasing - General Posts
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3 posts claborde 3 posts
claborde
Does anyone have the GPS coordinates for the tail section & main crash site of the Hughes Airwest DC-9 (flight 706) that crashed in Fish Canyon, CA (just outside of Duarte)?  Been doing a bunch of research, and thought about doing the hike.

Thanks
gunhog11 64 posts
gunhog11
A writeup about the midair, used for flight safety and education purposes.

http://forums.jetcareers.com/technical-talk/92882-look-out-live.html
sfsundancer 1 post
sfsundancer
40th Anniversary of Hughes Airwest 706 article

Some of you might have read this well written article about the Airwest mid-air in the Salt Lake Tribune (June 2011):


It does a nice job of paying homage to some of the local Salt Lake City passengers, (SLC was the first stop of flight 706), and the loss that was felt to the larger Utah community as a whole.   Of course, that loss was felt by anyone impacted by this tragedy but at least someone took the time to memorialize it in writing.
canyonair 365 posts
canyonair
Hard to keep track of all the accident anniversaries, but I missed this one. That is one tough accident site to visit. Not many people know this, but about 30' of the DC-9's forward fuselage separated after the collision and came down in Fish Canyon while the remainder of the fuselage and empenage landed in a side canyon. I know someone that found a fragment from the F4's wing, complete with part of the star.
Research of historical civil and commercial aviation accidents and sites (1920s-1990s). http://www.lostflights.com
T308 1 post
T308
There's a fire burning in this area today.  I don't believe the crash and tail areas have burned since 1971 though I could be mistaken.
Dave 1 post
Dave
That fire originally started in Glendora and moved N/W toward the wreck site but never got closer than 8 or 9 miles. You are correct in stating that the wreck site hasn't burned since '71. The entire area hasn't burned in decades. In doing research on the location, I made friends with one of the SAR members that spent a night or two and several at the wreck site recovering debris. While he didn't see bodies, he did find a few body fragments as well as the instrument panel from the cockpit. He has several carousels full of slides from the wreck that I'm hoping to see soon. He still has his gate keys and uniform. Thanksgiving '13 he drove me up to the ridge and we hiked out as far as possible that day. We were only 1,200 ft from the wreck. I haven't been back since, but plan on going sometime this fall when the weather cools. My friend has given me a lot of interesting bits of info including the location of the missing luggage. If and when I make it in, I'll be happy to post a few pic's but won't post the GPS coordinates. And yes I do have them. My friend is 83 now and really wants to go in one last time, Hope I can make it happen...
DaveTrojan Moderators 2,825 posts
DaveTrojan
Good Luck. I'm sure lots of people would like to see pictures of the crash site. 
jrauzon 1 post
jrauzon
My grandfather died in the Hughes Airwest Flight 706 flight. The crash was eight years before I was born. In 1999, shortly after the golfer, Payne Stewart died in a plane crash in South Dakota, my brother wrote an opinion article referencing his death and the Hughes Airwest Flight our grandfather died on. Just thought I might share it here:

http://universe.byu.edu/1999/10/27/opinion-payne-stewart/

Justin
JR 354 posts
JR
Thank you for posting this Justin. I was a 16 year old CAP cadet that participated in the recovery operations at Royal Oak Park in Duarte.
ctgray 2 posts
ctgray
Could this be the tail?  It's in the area from the coordinates noted above.

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1884033,-117.9349557,84m/data=!3m1!1e3
canyonair 365 posts
canyonair
The latest GE images show that the fire burned through the impact sites of the DC-9 and F-4B as well as the debris field. The USFS closure should be lifted and I'll plan to make a hike into the area this Fall to see how badly the fire affected the crash sites. I would imagine the fire damaged what was left of the tail section too.
Research of historical civil and commercial aviation accidents and sites (1920s-1990s). http://www.lostflights.com
ctgray 2 posts
ctgray
@canyonair:   were you able to make the hike?  I'm curious as to what you found.  The more I look at the image I posted a while back, the more it looks like a wing and not a tail.  Maybe the F4 wing that was sheared off?
canyonair 365 posts
canyonair
That’s the DC-9s tail. It’s sitting upright so your lookin straight down on the horizontal stabilizer.
Research of historical civil and commercial aviation accidents and sites (1920s-1990s). http://www.lostflights.com
jimbobpeter 1 post
jimbobpeter
Thank you for all of the great information on Flight 706.  I have seen a couple of references to the DC-9 cockpit.  Any idea how far away from the main wreckage the forward section landed.  Has anyone located that position?

I did notice that there is a very good video on You Tube now using a drone / hover craft that flies over several of the locations with some of the segments on the ground.  It is definitely worth a view if you haven't seen it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tor0nSDDrrE&t=255s
JimBob
canyonair 365 posts
canyonair
The cockpit section came down in another side canyon, also near Fish Canyon. Approximately 1/2 mile from the DC-9 main impact site. It was removed in its entirety and taken to a warehouse in Azusa for the investigation.
Research of historical civil and commercial aviation accidents and sites (1920s-1990s). http://www.lostflights.com
Wingsoglory 1 post
Wingsoglory
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who posted information about this crash. I recently bought a flight helmet online that belonged to pilot Ted Nicolay and I also got his early flight log. I moved right close to El Toro MCAS in 73 and I remember those howling F4's. I also lived close to What is now John Wayne OC airport and remember the yellow flying banana DC9s ( but never knew this crash led to the yellow high visibility paint job) .
I can't imagine the final moments of all these people who lost their lives in this crash especially of the flight crew as one moment they were flying normally and then disaster (kind of like the crew of mh17).

If anyone has any other info on Ted Nicolay I'd be interested in learning more about his flying career.
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