Western Air Lines Flight 34
The aircraft involved, prior to the crash | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 26, 1954 |
| Summary | Crash, cause undetermined |
| Site | Near Wright, Wyoming, US 43°49′25″N 105°06′31″W / 43.823629°N 105.108604°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Convair CV-240-1 |
| Operator | Western Air Lines |
| Registration | N8407H |
| Flight origin | Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles |
| 1st stopover | McCarran Field in Las Vegas |
| 2nd stopover | Cedar City Regional Airport in Cedar City, Utah |
| 3rd stopover | Salt Lake City Municipal Airport in Salt Lake City |
| 4th stopover | Natrona County Municipal Airport in Casper, Wyoming |
| 5th stopover | Rapid City Regional Airport in Rapid City, South Dakota |
| Destination | Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, Minneapolis |
| Occupants | 9 |
| Passengers | 6 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 9 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Western Air Lines Flight 34 was a scheduled flight between Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles and Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis. On February 26, 1954, the Convair CV-240 conducting the flight crashed while flying through storms over Wyoming, killing all nine occupants of the plane. Severe blizzards accompanied by extreme winds were present in the region, and it took searchers three days to find the crash site. The aircraft crashed into the frozen ground at a high rate of speed, leaving an impact crater and widespread fragmentation of the wreckage. Crash investigators conducted an investigation of the events that led up to the crash, but were unable to find a clear cause. The final accident report identified the probable cause as "a sudden emergency of undetermined origin under adverse weather conditions resulting in rapid descent and impact with the ground at high speed".