Overview | Carole Lombard Plane Crash Site | Potosi Mountain, Nevada

Adventure to occur Spring or Fall soon.

Crash Details Summary

At 7:20pm on January 16, 1942, a Douglas DC-3-382 propliner TWA flight carrying Carole Lombard crashed into a sheer cliff on the side of Potosi Mountain on its route from Las Vegas to Burbank, California. Also on the flight were Carole’s mother Elizabeth Peters, Otto Winkler (the press agent and best friend of Carole’s husband Clark Gable), 3 crew members and 15 U.S. Army soldiers. All 22 on board died in the crash. The plane crashed only 32 miles Southwest of Las Vegas Airport (now Nellis Air Field) at an altitude of 7.770 ft. Coordinates of the crash site are: 35.9510°N 115.4914°W. It’s determined that the cause of the accident was a navigation error.

Reason for the Plane Trip and Urgency to Return Home

Carole Lombard, at the young age of 33, was returning from a successful WWII war bond promotion in Indiana where she raised over $2 million for the war effort. It was the first war bonds sale after Pearl Harbor had been bombed. In Albuquerque, NM, one of a number of stops along the return trip, Carole and her party were asked to relinquish their seats to 15 US Army Corps personnel on their way to California. They were considered “essential for the war effort”. Carole argued that as a military fund raiser she was “essential to the war effort” and so was allowed to remain on the flight. She was anxious to return to California to be reunited with her husband Clark Gabel, married less than 3 years. Clark was having an affair with actress Lana Turner, and it’s thought this may have added to Carole’s urgency to continue on the flight home. On top of this, Clark was not answering Carole’s phone calls.

Impact Site

After a brief refueling stop at the Las Vegas Airport, the plane took off at 7:07pm, heading for Burbank, California. Only 15 minutes later, in the dark of night, at 185 miles per hour and full or fuel, the plane slammed into the cliffs forming a vertical wall just below the summit of Potosi Mountain’s upper ridgeline between today’s South and Middle communication towers. The plane would have cleared the cliffs had it been just a little over 200 ft higher in altitude. The difference is only 2/3rds the distance of a football field!

Navigational Errors

The pilots were very experienced taking the 218-degree compass heading from Boulder City Airport. They inadvertently took that familiar 218-degree Boulder Airport heading, but from the Las Vegas Airport. It was an error to use compass navigation in the first place as radio navigation was the recommended procedure. These errors sent them into terrain that was higher than the plane’s altitude. A number of the beacon lights had been turned off that night to help cloak the area in darkness due to WW II wartime concerns, increasing the danger.

Clark Gabel’s Grief and Guilt

Clark Gabel, filled with grief and guilt, never fully recovered from the loss of his wife Carole Lombard, and though married twice following her death, was buried next to Carole’s grave.

View additional historic details here.

Best Time of Year to Visit The Carole Lombard Plane Crash Site

Make this trip in Fall or Spring when the temperature in Las Vegas is under 90 degrees. Mid-Summer temperatures can reach a dangerous 100 degrees or higher, even on the upper altitudes of Potosi Mountain. I carry up to 6 liters of liquid. The terrain is very steep, with a loose rock surface near the crash site.

Route Starting Point Directions | Carole Lombard Plane Crash Site | Potosi Mountain, Nevada

There are two potential routes to the crash site:

Route from Below: From Las Vegas, take Blue Diamond Road, then Highway 160 West. As the highway begins ascending Potosi Mountain, watch for the Late Night Trailhead on the right. Soon thereafter, take a left, crossing the highway to the entrance of Cottonwood Valley Road. You can park and walk from the parking area at the beginning of the road, but it’s a long walk from there to the crash site (see the map on this page). If you have a good 4WD vehicle, continue on the unpaved Cottonwood Valley Road to Cottonwood Pass which is just South of the crash site. Take the trail and approach ridge to the crash site from Cottonwood Pass.

Route from Above: Take I-15 South from Las Vegas to Hwy 161 exit at Jean. Take a right onto Hwy 161/Goodsprings Rd. Just before the town of Goodsprings take a right onto Goodsprings Bypass Road (signed as a gravel truck route). After a couple miles, Goodsprings Bypass Road takes a hard right onto Rainbow Quarry Road (unmarked, but there is no other option). Continue on Rainbow Quarry Road to what I will call the “Warning Rock Parking Area” (a large rock warning about a gate ahead). This is the point where it’s best to have a 4WD vehicle to continue. Hwy 509, Potosi Mountain Road, begins here.

About 2 miles beyond this point there is a gate, often or “most often” locked since Potosi Mountain Road was designed as a maintenance route for the communication towers on the 3 summits. You can park outside the gate and continue on foot up Potosi Mountain Road. Alternately, there is a short but steep and rugged gate bypass road to the left just before the gate. This road does require a 4WD vehicle.

Park between the South and Middle communication towers (see the map) to hike the shortest route to the crash site. Note I have not yet tested this route and cannot guarantee there are no class 3+ vertical climbing stretches. Until this route is tested and evaluated, it’s best to stick to the route from below.

Narrative Guide | Carole Lombard Plane Crash Site | Potosi Mountain, Nevada

Adventure to occur Spring or Fall soon.