Overview | CIA Plane Crash in 1952 | Panamint Mountains | Death Valley, CA

This adventure involves navigating some pathless, treacherously steep slopes on foot in a remote location in the Panamint Mountains of Death Valley. Though the distance is relatively short (about 10 miles), start early and prepare to spend the entire day making the out-and-back trip to the crash site. The adventure could take over 10 hours. Advanced hiking experience and conditioning is required! Even if you don’t plan to visit the crash site, the video and narrative guides when completed on this page will offer a great virtual adventure.

Historic Facts on the CIA Plane Crash

The Plane

16-ton, two-engine, ARC Wing Grumman SA-16 Albatross: Air Force 001

The Project

A joint Air Force/CIA project was established to support the Cold War effort in the early 1950s. The purpose was to infiltrate agents and equipment into communist controlled countries that had leaders friendly towards the United States.

Three joint Air Force/CIA units: The 580th, 581st and 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Wings, also known as ARC Wings, were made up of former World War II pilots.

The Route

The 580th flew 4-hour 1,400-mile round trip training missions from Mountain Home Air Force Base in SW Idaho to San Diego, crossing over Death Valley en-route. Average cruising elevation over Death Valley was about 11,000ft. The purpose of this mission was to practice night flying.

The Crash

• Date: January 24, 1952
• Time: Around 9pm
• Visibility: Winter night, darkness
• Temperature: Around 40 degrees
• Crew: 6

As the Albatross was heading West from Mountain Home Idaho to San Diego and crossing over the Grape Vine Mountains on the East side of Death Valley, one of its two engines gave out forcing the plane into an uncontrolled 500-feet-per-minute descent.

9pm – Bail Out

Now over the center of Death Valley and having descended to 9,700ft, it became clear the plane, with its one remaining engine, would be unable to sustain the altitude needed to cross over the next range, the Panamint range on the West side of Death Valley.

At this point, the crew of 6 bailed out, jumping from the back door of the Albatross to land in the desert about 14 miles North of Furnace Creek village. This would have put them in the mid-desert salt pan South of the Salt Creek area. Two crew members were injured during the landing.

End of the Albatross

The Albatross, minus its crew members, continued cruising West toward the Panamint Range. It finally crashed into a ridge about 2.5 miles from Towne Pass, then came to rest on a steep, exposed slope at 6,500ft elevation just below the point of impact (see the map on this page). Components of the wreckage were scattered down the steep gully below. The main Albatross wreckage can be seen from points on Hwy 190 by those who know its location.

The Crew’s Hike to Furnace Creek

The four uninjured crew members began heading toward the lights of Furnace Creek village, 14 miles away. The terrain between their landing point and Furnace Creek is desert salt pan. There’s deep mud…knee deep in places, covered by a thin layer of salt. The Amargosa River, streaming down the center of Death Valley, has mud deep enough to swallow a hiker! View an adventure where I attempted to cross the Death Valley salt pan in the Badwater area. 

It seems logical that the 4 crew members might have angled toward the East edge of the salt pan in order to escape the deep mud. The ground just East (near present Hwy 190) is firmer, but rocky with alluvial fan deposits from the Funeral Mountains and riddled with intervening gullies. Either way, it would not have been an easy 14 miles to Furnace Creek in the darkness of night! View an adventure where I ventured into the salt pan in the area the crew members would have been hiking.

The four crew members reached Furnace Creek about midnight. Park rangers stationed at the then Death Valley National Monument headquarters in Furnace Creek hiked back to rescue the two injured crew members.

Initial Location and Inspection of the Albatross

Two days later, January 26, 1952, the crashed Albatross was spotted by telescope. The Air Force sent out a three-person team to investigate the wreckage. On the team’s second attempt, only one of the three was able to successfully climb to the crash site.

Hiking to the Albatross Crash Site

Overall Elevation Gain
7,200 ft

Highest Point

Towne Peak (Towne Benchmark) – 7,287ft

RT Distance
11.97 Miles

The crash site is only about 2.5 miles from Towne Pass on California Highway 190, but the route to get there is rather complicated, navigating along some very steep, loose rock slopes. You’ll alternately ascend and descend a few high points along the way totaling an overall elevation gain approaching 6,500ft. The actual out-and-back trip is around 9-10 miles, but due to the route complexity the trip can take 7-12 hours. Study the terrain map on this page carefully, and plan your timing to start and finish during daylight hours. You don’t want to be navigating this terrain in the dark!

Park at Towne Pass and almost immediately ascend a steep 1,000ft loose rock slope to summit the upper ridgeline. At this point you should be able to see the wreckage. Continue along the upper ridge, skirting the edge of a sheer 1,000-1,500ft drop-off. The first major high point is around 6,600ft.

From that initial high point on the ridgeline, continue along the ridgeline, then ascend a steep slope to the highest point, Towne Peak, at 7,287ft. From there, you will descend additional steep slopes to the location of the plane’s fuselage at about 6,500ft. You could explore the incredibly steep gully below, descending another 2-600ft to inspect smaller components of the wreckage.

Best Timing for This Adventure

Summer’s mid-day heat along this route can easily reach a dangerous 110 degrees or more. Winter can bring ice and snow on the steep slopes making navigation treacherous. The sweet spot appears to be mid-Spring or mid-Fall when temperatures are more moderate, yet daylight hours are long enough to complete the adventure in the light.

Reporting

An official narrative was compiled in the 1970s. An article titled “The CIA’s Death Valley Albatross” ran in Air Classics magazine in April 1979.

Route Starting Point Directions | CIA Plane Crash in 1952 | Panamint Mountains | Death Valley, CA

The closest access to this remote crash site is the Towne Pass parking area on Hwy 190 between Stovepipe Wells and Panamint Springs. From the East, take Hwy 190 past Stovepipe Wells. Hwy 190 ascends into the Panamint Mountains and passes Emigrant Campground and Emigrant Canyon Road. Continue on Hwy 190 to the high point of Towne Pass (just before the Hwy begins to descend toward Panamint Springs). Find a parking area on the West (right) side of Hwy 190 at the Towne Pass high point (4,956ft).

Additional Plane Crash Sites Explored

I don’t make it a practice to seek out plane crash sites, but there are many in the area due to high winds and sharp, rugged peaks. Here are sites I have visited and documented by video, photos and narrative:

• There’s a memorial at the Spring Mountains Visitor Gateway for the November 17th, 1955 Cold War Era C-54 plane crash on the slopes of Mt. Charleston. 
• The plane crash site can be viewed by a telescope set up on the Escarpment Trail.
• Visit the plane crash site by hiking the Charleston South Loop Trail.
• Here’s a crash site gully I stumbled upon while exploring slopes along the Eastern base of Mummy Mountain’s Nose. I could not find any documentation or record for this crash, but the wreckage is definitely there! 

There are many other crash sites, and eventually I’ll stumble upon and document more of them as I continue to explore the incredible wilderness here!

Narrative Guide | CIA Plane Crash in 1952 | Panamint Mountains | Death Valley, CA

Towne Pass Parking Area to Upper Ridgeline

From the parking area on Hwy 190 on Towne Pass, begin by heading up the ridge you can see to the North (same side of the road) just above the parking area. There’s a steep 900ft approach slope to get to the summit of the ridge. Huge boulders, as large as 15 feet in diameter line the entire ridge. You can see by the porous nature of the boulders that they are volcanic. However, surprisingly, unlike jagged lava rocks, these boulders look as if they’ve been smoothed, probably by the action of the wind and sand over the centuries. It’s not too difficult to weave around the boulders, but you’re constantly watching for the best pathway between them as you ascend. There is no path. Pick your best route.

Getting Your Bearings on the Upper Ridgeline

Once you reach the upper ridgeline your entire route to the crash site is visible. You can actually see the crash site across the huge gapping Dolomite Canyon below. The ridgeline around the upper end of the canyon creates a massive crescent shape. And, in contrast to the slope you just ascended, there’s a fairly distinct trail along the ridgeline that will take you all the way to the crash site. That highest point in the upper center of the ridgeline is the 7,287ft Towne Peak (also marked on maps as “Towne Benchmark”). The ridgeline itself circling the upper end of Dolomite Canyon forms a series of high points with a lot of ascent and descent to Towne Peak. Then there’s a steeper 1,000ft descent from Towne Peak to the crash site. 

Though the entire out-and-back trip to and from the crash site is only 11.97 miles with an elevation gain of about 4,000ft, the alternate ascents and descents along the way bring the total elevation gain up to 7,290ft. With the fluctuating elevation changes, it takes about the same time and effort to hike this route as to hike the entire Charleston Peak Loop trail, which would be a good practice hike. The most technically difficult stretch will be the final steep quarter-mile stretch down to the crash site. The most difficult stretch, energy-wise, will be re-ascending that 1,000ft elevation from the crash site to Towne Peak. Be prepared, and allow yourself 10-12 hours of daylight. It took me just under 8 hours. Some are faster, others slower.

Ridgetop to Towne Peak

Towne Peak will be the 5th high point along the way with huge dips in-between each high point. Navigation Tip: stay high on the upper edge of the ridgeline above Dolomite Canyon. This is the easiest route to navigate, and the path will pretty much follow this route. But don’t depend on the path. It may alternately disappear and reappear. If you loose the path, stay on the upper edge of the ridgeline, and the path will shortly reappear. Unlike the huge, volcanic boulder-strewn surface of the initial slope, the route along the ridgeline is fairly wide open with spectacular views the entire way. To the West is the Panamint Valley with a backdrop of the Sierra Nevada range, Mt. Whitney prominent. Behind you to the South (remember to turn around often) is the Southern stretch of the Panamint Mountains with Telescope Peak and Wildrose Peak prominent. You won’t see much to the East until you ascend near the summit of Towne Peak. At that point you’ll see Death Valley with a backdrop of the Grapevine Mountains.

The Tom Gossett Story

There’s a summit box on Towne Peak, and you can see the original signatures of Tom Gossett who made two memorable hikes to the crash site. Tom Gossett, along with his dad were rescued from the top of Towne Peak on September 2, 1968 when he was 13 years old. That hike was Tom’s first peak and crash site visit. Since then he’s gone on the climb over 400 peaks and hunt down and visited over 250 crash sites! Tom and some family and friends made a 40th anniversary return trip to the crash site.

Towne Peak to the Crash Site

The descent from Towne Peak to the crash site becomes steeper. Here are a couple good practice hikes – if you can do these, you’ll have no trouble:

• Mummy Mountain Western Approach
• Mummy Mountain Eastern Descent

Initially, beyond Towne Peak, there’s a gradual ridgeline with a few rocky high points. Stay high and along the upper edge of the ridgeline, even if you see false trails leading along a route below the rocky high points. Those lower trails do not end well! Then, there’s the steep 1,000ft descent to the saddle just above the crash site. Some faint pathways may help, but for the most part you’re zigzagging down the slope to the saddle. There’s a supply box on the saddle above the crash site. Don’t expect to find anything in the box, but it had a couple water canteens when I was there, and has had other supplies.

Final Descent to the Crash Site

It’s less than a quarter-mile from the saddle to the crash site, but what a descent! The descent is on a steep, exposed slope reminiscent of the incline up the East side of Mummy Mountain. Take it carefully, step by step. On the day I was there, there were a series of steps kicked into the dirt surface. A good rain could wipe the steps out making it necessary for you to kick in your own steps. A couple brief places had gravel over a smooth rock surface, highly exposed. I was able to find work-arounds making those steps a little more secure. In all, it’s steep, and it’s a bit scary in places, but not too horrible! Before you know it you’re at the crash site. And know that the trip back up that steep stretch is, at least to me, a lot easier than descent! There are a few small places to rest, enjoy and observe the crash site. Great photo opportunities!

Return to Towne Pass on Highway 190

Return by the same route you took to the crash site. After the initial grueling 1,000ft elevation gain back to Towne Pass…and you may be pretty tired…the remainder of the route is primarily downhill. The high points on the way down seem far easier than they did during the ascent. Eventually, when you reach the top of the original slope and can see your vehicle parked below on Towne Pass, it does get a bit difficult. Remember those huge volcanic boulders? They’re more difficult during the descent, but you’ll be able to pick out a route weaving between the boulders all the way down to Highway 190.

Summary

Enjoy the life memory of your great accomplishment, similar to summiting Charleston Peak, along with a close encounter with Post WWII Cold War history! No, visiting plane crash sites is not my hobby, but this SA-16 Albatross is truly remarkable!