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LOCKHEED VEGA Model 5B NC46M
SHORTEST OF LIVES
This airplane is a Lockheed Vega Model 5B (S/N 97; ATC #227)
manufactured late 1929 by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation,
Burbank,
CA. It left the factory with a Pratt & Whitney
Wasp C engine (S/N 1901) of 450 HP. It was a five-place
airplane painted red with ivory trim.
It sold in October 1929 to Corporacion Aeronautica De Transportes,
S.A., Torreon, Mexico. This airplane operated in Mexico
only with U.S. registration, never receiving a Mexican license.
We find it landing at Tucson on October 17, 1929 flown by
Theodore
Hull carrying two unidentified passengers. They
were southeastbound from Los Angeles, CA to El Paso, TX. It
was the ferry flight to Mexican ownership.
Alas, it made only this one flight southbound in the U.S.,
being ferried from Burbank. It was then sent on a run
from El Paso to Mexico City with intermediate stops. It
was in service just four days.
On November 4, 1929 it crashed into the side of Cerro del
Carbon Mountain. It had left Mexico City Airport enroute
to El Paso in overcast weather with low ceiling. It
crashed about 20 minutes after takeoff. The pilot,
John A. Carmichael, CAT supervisor Mr. Lowry, Sr. Manuel
Carpio, the Governor of Aguascalientes State, and Sr. Daniel
Varela were killed.
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UPLOADED: 06/02/06 REVISED: 05/18/07
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