Hiking to a 1950's CIA Plane Wreck of an SA-16 Albatross
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2023
- Been wanting to hike to this plane crash site for years, and finally made the trip up seeing that the weather was going to cooperate. I figured it would take me at least 9 or 10 hours to hike roundtrip. Next time I definitely want to spend a night out there so I can check out the wreckage below the main impact site. This was the first time I've used my drone for filming purposes, and I've got to say I'm impressed! Amazing that this 1950's crash is still relatively intact after all these decades. Hope y'all enjoy this one!
Great and unique content! Thank you for this video.
Thanks for that! Glad you enjoyed this one.
All 6 persons on the CIA flight training mission in the SA-16 Albatross were able to parachute out and survived the incident according to Death Valley web site pages on the crash.
PS - Thanks for posting this video!
Thank you very much for the post. I was curious.
Perciate it Hombre thanks 👍
That's too bad. I have little use for the CIA or the FBI. Been used to spy on Americans since their inception.
WILIAM LLOYD Even the pilot ejected?
From the report:
"All six occupants were found unarmed while the aircraft was destroyed."
I'm going to take a leap here and assume that they meant "unharmed". :)
The white wire with the insulators is an antenna that’s mounted on the outside skin of the aircraft. The yellow box is part of the avionics (ie. aircraft electronics). Looks like maybe a transmitter as it has two ceramic insulated posts on one end. Quite possibly an emergency survival type radio as I recall seeing some in the early ‘60s very much like it. The “light” looks like an engine turbo-charger at first glance. But it’s a bit small and is driven by an electric motor which makes it a ventilation motor for the crew and or the avionics. Best guess would be for forced air off an onboard gas fired heater. It gets real cold up at altitude. 🥶 With twin engine aircraft you generally don’t get bleed air off an engine for heat so, with few exceptions, they used onboard heaters. Too bad you didn’t find a number plate on the engine. About almost 48,000 of that type of engine was produced from multiple manufacturers (even Studebaker!) and countries. Caterpillar even made a Diesel engine version (D200) for the M4 Sherman. Great explore. Good job!
The propeller was amazingly straight for a crash indicating no rotation or power when it crashed.
wire with insulators is probably an hf radio
Probably HF?
Great information sir. Thank you so much
@@robertbandusky9565high frequency radio?
On January 24th, 1952, an Albatross from the 580th Air Resupply Squadron was flying from Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho to San Diego. Over Death Valley, California, its port engine caught on fire. It was already dark and the plane started losing altitude fast so a decision was made. All five crewmembers bailed out and the plane later hit one of the peaks of the Panamint Mountains.
BOB ANDERSON What about the pilot did he parachute to safety as well? There were 6 onboard!
@@chairlesnicol672 Google "SA-16 Crash ASN Aircraft accident" should be the first link
@@chairlesnicol672 Wiki says all 6 crew members survived by bailing out and leaving the plane to crash of its own accord.
BOB ANDERSON Must have been scary bailing out at night onto the desert floor ! Everyone assembled together for rescue later in the day? So that plane wreckage is still there on a mountain top?
@@chairlesnicol672 They expect one of us in the wreckage, brother!
Back in the mid-90's I was hiking around the mountains just North of Anza, Ca, and I came across what I think was the wreckage of an A-6 Intruder. According to what I could find on the wreck the plane was coming back from a training mission in the late 60's or early-70's heading towards Miramar Naval Station when the plane had mechanical issues. The pilot safely ejected.
that sounds awesome! do you have any memories of how to find it?
@@Toma_SucinI want to know as well if he lets us know I'll come with you !!! Lol
@@seantbr2019 the more, the merrier!
There's an Intruder crashed in Oregon, Burma Rim, Lake County that crashed on 19 September 1973. Unfortunately both pilot and navigator died on impact.
@@aserta I was trying to find the one in anza on the internet and came upon that one
Cool video. Thank you. And THANK YOU for not posting crappy royalty free music overtop the drone shots.
Thanks alot! And yeah I figured it'd be a better move to just have the footage and no audio
Back in the early 80s my friend & I made that hike, at the time we were both HU-16 flight mechs in the Coast Guard.
It was a memorable hike and took way longer than we expected.
It was neat seeing it & the slagged radios on the radio rack, we figured the radios were destroyed by the CIA crew before they jumped. There were a lot of great souvenirs there but it was a long walk so any souvenirs had to be easy to carry.
Boy was he correct about not wanting to hike back in the dark! That part was memorable...even today, 40+ years later I can remember going back to where we parked.
I VISITED THIS AIRCRAFT 40 YEARS AGO. IT WAS MUCH MORE INTACT.
GREAT VIDEO, THE BEST ONE I’VE SEEN. EXCELLENT PHOTOGRAPHY. YOUR CAMERA DID A GREAT JOB. WONDERHUSSY AND HER SISTER VISITED THE SITE SEVERAL YEARS AGO. SHE DID A VIDEO THAT IS ON HER CHANNEL.
COOL STORY BRO, BUT WHY ARE WE SHOUTING.
@@circomnia9984 bad vision probably.
Engines always roll down the hill after detaching in a crash, the other is probably at the bottom. I live on the side of Mt. Tamalpais in N CA and we have two Corsairs, a B-17 (only one engine left) and a lot of wreckage of a PBM-5 Mariner seaplane. I found one Corsair engine in a creek, the rangers say they are up higher and someone stole a whole wing in the 90's. The story about the B-17 is interesting, it was cleaned up quickly but locals took pieces of it before they could haul it all away, it was supposedly carrying detonators for the atomic bombs. The Corsairs were pilots in training and they hit each other but they both bailed out and made it. I grew up on Oahu and I know where engines from Pearl Harbor are grown up into trees.
To see trees growin out of somethin like an engine would be so damn cool. Would make for some brilliant photographs!
That's the left side engine, which initially dipped down, broke the wing in half as the other side basically ground and compressed to bits as it impacted the side of the mountain. When the airframe finally contacted, hence the lack of anything forward of the rear of the airplane, it wound up under the airframe as it slid down.
Kinda like when you see those car crash tests, they do a side impact in the right side, and the car's rear basically lifts in the air as the momentum is instantly dumped into the unmovable item it crashes through, but the rest of the car still wants to travel forward.
Same here.
Poor aircraft, it almost made it over the mountains. There is the remnants of a B-17 close to where I live that almost made it over the mountains as well after World War II, no survivors, engine cylinders and a battery is about all there is left, people have carried off plane for scrap and souvenirs unfortunately. Thank you for sharing!
Where?
@@walterkersting9922 near Moosehead lake Maine I think she is referring too
@@walterkersting9922 Blue Mountains, Eastern Oregon. Easily found online but nobody says which trailhead to take😉
@@Brandon-ch2ot nope, Oregon
@@melissasmess2773 ah similar crash in Maine as well then!
The "searchlight" at 18:15 is a pump of some sort. The electrical part on the backside is the motor.
Ahh I see, thanks for the correction and info!
@@WesternMineDetective
Most welcome, my friend.
Amazing footage.. Also you can see a seat frame inside the fuselage. Just be careful 'cause being alone is a little of a risk just in case. Thanks for taking us on this hike
I agree with you to not go alone. When he went into this giant mine by himself (400+ ft), fell, and became so injured that he couldn’t save himself climbing back up those tiny vertical stairs, nobody would’ve been able to find him.
Thanks for the video. I used to do hikes, but age and injuries will not let me do them so thanks for taking me on your hike-so cool!
I was going to post the same. I miss hiking. There are some pretty benign hikes around me and am going to try to do some of those soon. At least it’s trees, streams and nature.
But would be cool to hike to a plane on a mountain!
Very good, please don't take risks with your hiking. Plan it for safety and stick to the plan. Cool find. Thank you.
Sick video. Crazy to think that wreck has been out in the elements for 70 years and still looks that intact.
I really enjoyed the video. I’m concerned that you are hiking alone. Too many things can happen while out and about. Stay safe
I know it's a remote location but amazing/weird that something like this is just sitting out there. Thanks for sharing!
I used to camp and hike through the mountains, ALONE. ..
When I went with other people, their scrambled minds and talk would detract from the experience, I found. ..
I realized that I did it for the BEAUTY. ..
Yes, it's dangerous. I almost died a few times, but I didn't.
I only have my memories and a few still photos. ..
These videos are wonderful. Thanks.
I was hoping you would have sent your drone down that ravine to film the other debris field. That would be easier than another hike & a LOT less chance for injury......Thanks for the share !
Thanks for doing this and thanks for making it back safely & sharing with us
I got exhausted just watching that strenous hike. I would watch for snakes around that plane. Amazing adventure and stunning vistas.
Not many snakes at this height. That said, a rattlesnake was found at 9,000 ft on Telescope peak.
Man these beautiful views are most definitely appreciated. Another great episode.
Thanks for taking us along. Excellent video.
That was awesome, I have been at that location before, I have also found a couple other crashes on that mountain six years ago one from an F-16 that was on a training flight from Edwards Air Force Base
Looks like an amazing place to visit. Thanks for taking us with you!
You get to go to the coolest places.👍Stay safe. Thanks for going through so much to show us everything!👍🙂🙏
Thanks man! I always try to show all I can when I go to these sites, and if not this time I'll show everything the next venture.
@@WesternMineDetective Please be careful. We want to keep you around for more adventures 👍🙏
Good to know no one died in the crash! All parachuted safely! 👍👍
That's amazing wreckage!! And the weather looked really great for the hike!
Looks like a 9 cylinder radial engine. Amazing how intact some parts are considering it crashed into a mountain. Super cool video! Thanks for sharing!
Has radio in hand, proceeds to say " wish I could find a radio" LOL.
I'm trolling of course.
I’ve seen , I think , only 2 other videos on the Albatross, but yours is the best for showing the top of the ridges and how difficult the trail seems to be. This is on my “to do list”, but I can tell it is a trail not to be taken lightly. Looking forward to part 2 with more drone footage and exploring area just below wreckage. Great job!
Awesome as usual, thanks again for providing a worthwhile watch.
Appreciate that! Thanks for watching.
Looks like a difficult way to get to the wreck thanks for showing us a amazing site
Wonderful video. Thanks for taking me along.
Wow what cool content!!! Thanks for making the trek up there for us!!! Looking forward to you making it back there for new footage!!
Outstanding adventure. Enjoyed it.
Awesome hike and video! I had heard about this accident site as my late dad and I frequented Death Valley quite a bit. I'm glad I got to see your video as that hike is not something I would have ever undertaken. Great video again! Thanks.
Thank you for bringing your exploration to us.
i read about this one in the early 70,s. you had one heck of a climb. very cool.
Excellent video! Love the view and the history!
Awesome footage. I really hope you carry a SAT phone. Very easy to get hurt in wreckage like that in unforgiving terrain.
👍
Greetings from Ireland. One word: Spectacular. Thanks for sharing.
What's crazy is, as the name suggests, the plane is a sea bird. It is (or was) an amphibious plane that could land on and take off from water and also had retractable wheels. This plane was far off course for any water operations and not one I would use for covert operations in the desert. You did this one up right. Not an immediate trip to the site or footage at 5x speed, but shows a little of how you got there and stopping to "smell the roses" along the way. Great views and there's a reason why you were struggling--the air is super thin up there.
CIA ... need we ask why ?
I think the most hilarious (if we can allow that) thing of this whole affair is the fact that there's now ... a boat cleat on the top of a mountain and technically speaking, a boat too... 24:01 the cleat is by the gap which would've been a small door there, likely to help with mooring the seaplane.
Intriguing You did a great job of getting close ups of the plane that I'm sure someone saw and recognized as being something they made
You always put amazing thank you so much i got old to do this so the next best thing is watching your videos❤
The yellow thing is the radio. Those individual squares inside it are crystals. Very cool.
Awesome buddy, love your dedication. Always a pleasure to watch your content mate.
Martin Perth West Australia
Greatly appreciate that! Glad you enjoy my videos, cheers mate 🍻
Awesome video! I am new to hiking and am looking to get into deeper and more in depth hikes like this. Great channel to watch and gain ideas from as well as to learn about little things you mention throughout the video. Keep up the solid work!!! :)
Excellent video! Thank you for sharing this!
I'd want to do this with a friend so we could enjoy it together. But Thank you for videoing this trip so we could all enjoy it too! Good job!
That is so cool to see. Awesome drone footage
Thanks for taking us up there.
Looks like the engine found was not turning at time of impact or the blades would be twisted and snapped off. I used to play in a crashed B29 in Moses Point Alaska in the early 60’s. Was on its way to Russia in WW2. Located close to White Mountain on Norton Sound east of Nome
Hey I know the area and parts of the plane are still there. I've lived in Alaska since 1974 and there are actually plane wrecks all over the place many lost during WW2 going over the top to Russia for the lend lease program.
No. That's when the engine crashes into something that's flat ground and it has time to hit the ground. This is first and foremost a seaplane. The engines are way up high. So even if it would've crashed on flat land, it would've been impossible to have that broken/bent blade, the floats would've kept the wings level. Honestly, as planes that go down, if you're in a field, this may be the best to do it in.
That said, that's the left side engine, the one that didn't smash into the mountain side (the airplane came in at a 45 in a low angle, going by the remains). As the wings twisted off the airframe in that fraction of a second before the airframe itself touched the mountain face. This engine likely went under the airframe as it would've instantly stopped, twisted down with the wing which is now broken in half (it's what you see, and smacked face first into the hard rock... which is why it's mangled axially, which is something you rarely see. Note when he shows the propeller, that the whole thing is intact except for the fact that the shaft isn't where its supposed to be and the assend of the engine is blown out, from the impact with the ground.
A violent crash that would've come from full motion to total stop in under 20~30 seconds.
There's also evidence of a fire. The discolored tail section and the metal gashes which aren't scrapes, rather the aluminium skin melting and that first electric motor he picked up has a rounded piece of aluminium that's molten off, likely where that thing was initially was mounted.
If you've seen those car crashes they do when they test safety, and they crash a car into a concrete part, biased to one side at an angle, that's basically what happened here, with the added difference of the wings. The thing came in low, almost horizontal, hit the mountain, twisted ground and compressed whilst the tail section rotated up (trying to keep its momentum) and eventually fell down again, right over the left side motor.
Further evidence to this is the mounting for the antenna that basically ripped apart the tip of the tail. Note the cable that dented an almost perfect line into that tail tip. This thing came up, the cable came slack, fell the left as the tail went with the momentum, the wings (where the other mounting for the antenna was) twisted and ripped apart, making the cable taught again and ripping it off.
The only reason this seaplane isn't strewn all over that mountain side is because of that one cable. When the engine and left side dug into the rock, it moored the tail slamming it back down. I bet that if you were to look under, you'd see the bottom that's touching the rock now, deformed.
Fun fact, to appease after this comment which may come off wrong (just trying to impart what i saw here): This is a seaplane, essentially a flying boat... on top of a mountain. And with it, there's at least one boat cleat (albeit aerodynamic cleat) that would've once helped moor the seaplane at a dock. 24:01
Thank you for the in-depth information. I’m no expert, just know enough to follow a discussion. Always great to learn new things. I love aircraft, ships, motorcycles, and cars ( I own over 50 classics).
Spectacular video! I was getting dizzy just watching you!
Amazing footage you captured!
That was really scenic. I need to move out west. Thanks for another great video.
This is one of my few regrets about leaving Calif without hitting this hike. Steve Hall did a great write up on his hike years ago.
Thank you for sharing your trip
Ok I'm definitely going to see this! Thanks 4 the video.
Nice video. Thanks for sharing. Pretty cool!
That plane looked really difficult to build amazed
Great job ! Thank you. You know Dean Martin's son crashed his fighter about 30 years ago, maybe more on some mountainside down there (sw)
Interesting video thanks for taking us along.
Some KrazySick Shots with the drone. Good Job Kid !
A Flying Western Mine Detective! Good stuff Jerith!
Great video! Your cameras have really improved!
On 24 January 1952, SA-16A Albatross, 51-001, c/n G-74, of the 580th Air Resupply Squadron (described as a Central Intelligence Agency air unit), on cross-country flight from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, to San Diego, California, suffered failure of the port engine over Death Valley. The crew of six successfully bailed out at 6:30 PM local with no injuries, walked south some 14 miles (23 km) to Furnace Creek, California where they were picked up the following day by an SA-16 from the 42nd Air Rescue Squadron, March AFB, California. The abandoned SA-16 crashed into Towne Summit mountain ridge of the Panamint Range west of Stovepipe Wells with the starboard engine still running.
Very nice video, thanks for sharing.
What a great discovery. Thanks for the video.
Wow!
How cool is all that wreckage still being there!
Beautiful place. Thanks for sharing.
Fascinating! Thank you!
Great video, there is an airworthy albatross at wasilla airport where i fly out of, unfortunatly the owner died a few years back in an engine failure on take off in his aerobatic plane so hard to say whats going to happen to the albatross, not a lot of them left flying in the world.
Another fantastic explore Jerith! Kudo's to finally making it to the site. I was just as excited as you on finding the motor and propellers, makes the journey just that much better. Love your drone - looks compact. Is it easy to use? I am with everyone else on waiting for Part 2 of this adventure. Looks like so much debris below the wreckage that it would probably be a 2 day trip to take it all in. As always - thanks for taking us along with you.
Thanks for you work, very interesting stuff
Way to go go 👏 nice find!
Super Cool Video! You are a hiking machine. Thanks.
Thanks for the adventure!
That engine on the right side of the remaining fuselage was extremely likely THE failed engine. You can tell because the two blades visible were not bent backward, meaning the engine was not turning when it struck the mountainside.
I hiked out to the crash sight of a Vought A-7E Corsair II near NAS Fallon, Nevada, back in the late 1980s. It had been on a training flight some years earlier when it collided with a Cessna that had wandered into the restricted area around the target range. The pilot ejected, so naturally, the seat was not present. Also missing was the engine. I am assuming the Navy recovered it for analysis. Everything else was there, including the M61 Vulcan cannon, whose barrels were all warped and misshapen, and several Mk 76 practice bombs, some still attached to bomb racks, or MERs (Multiple Ejector Racks). This site was on the valley floor, near the extreme southern edge of the target range, so the hike was not nearly as strenuous as the one featured in the video. It was hot and dusty, but still a relatively easy trek. I had spotted the wreckage, which I had identified by the shape of one of its wings, from the air some weeks earlier when I flew in the back seat of a Cessna O-2A Skymaster spotter plane our squadron flew for tracking practice bomb hits and calling them in during F/A-18A Hornet air-to-ground ordnance delivery training. There are two types of people who flew in O-2s on those missions: those who are going to throw up, and those who have thrown up. Even the pilots admitted to losing their lunches in those birds. For some reason, the Skymaster was referred to as the "Duck" by Naval personnel.
very well done, stay safe and thanks for sharing.👍👍
the view of the tail when you sat down, so awesome.
Great find! A really cool video to watch 😁
Thanks alot! That's greatly appreciated.
I've wanted to visit that site since I saw Wonderhussy's video she did a few years ago and I hope to still get around to it. Have you looked into the "Gambler's Special flt #708" Mt Whitney crash from 1969? Years ago, after climbing Whitney, I looked into doing it but quickly realized it's more of an expedition than an outing, even more difficult than climbing Whitney. It's so remote it's probably a two or three nighter along with all the precautions for weather, comms, etc. I doubt even a hundred people have visited the site in the last 50 years. Anyway, it's a particularly sad story with all souls lost due to pilot error.
Are you talking about the Carol Lombard crash?
@@MrEbug68 No, that was a different, more famous, crash. Look up Hawthorne Nevada flight 708. It took 6 months to find the crash site. Quite sad and 4 other SAR aircraft crashed looking for it, with 5 more lives lost. A rescue helicopter crashed at the site, the wreckage still there.
@@DSC800 I will
Look it up. I’ve been to Hawthorn. They have a really cool ammunition museum.
Absolutely stunning cinematography my friend, this whole video is filmed so nicely and professionally! Great narration too!
I spent a few years in the USAF working on C-130-E aircraft... from the very beginning of working on the Flight Line the Supervisor had me Services the Kanut Valve and then the Muffler Bearings. To this day I never found the Kanut Valve and the Muffler Bearings were stuck so far up in the Tail-a-me Pipe that I just Signed Off as "Serviced" .... and I didnt see any in this wreck you are at either :) *Thanks for the Vid!! I really enjoy the Desert Areas!!!
Nice Drone shot
You can really get a good feel for how big that tail piece left really is
Brilliant video well done 👍👍
INCREDIBLE VIDEO!
Loving this channel
Bring on part 2. Unique work!!!
Thanks alot! Definitely wanna get back sometime soon.
@@WesternMineDetective Hope you do mate. So interesting as all your work is. Cheers.
The cooler weather for this time of year definitely helped.
Good stuff. Love plane wrecks - expecially when nobody lost their lives. Too bad you didn't have more time to go downhill.
Thank you for an incredible hike and video , you're a better climber than a mountain goat , goat wouldn't have climbed into the fuselage !
Appreciate the compliments haha I know I'm definitely part mountain goat.
Great Job!! Thank You!!
There were 2 Super Hornet's that crashed in that valley to back in '20 and '21. The '20 crash was sadly fatal for the pilot. The '21 crash the polit survived. Doubt they left much if anything of that behind though.
This is a nice bit of work. Thanks. The "light" you find first, is a blower, it has an impeller and an electric motor driving it...
Very cool :) Thanks for another awesome video :)
Awesome vid! I kept waiting for a huge rattler to pop out though!
I enjoyed it ,as if I was there. I've Ben to crash site in Parashute Colorado it's really an experience. Thanks for sharing ,I also have a Fimi drone.
Excellent video