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Paradise Airlines
Founded27 June 1962
(incorporated in California)
Commenced operationsApril 1962 (1962-04)
Ceased operations4 March 1964 (1964-03-04)
(shut down by FAA)
Operating basesOakland, California[1]
Fleet sizeSee Fleet below
DestinationsSee Destinations below
HeadquartersOakland, California[2]
FoundersHerman Jones
Henry Kengla
Constellation at Oakland 1964, sister ship of the aircraft that crashed

Paradise Airlines was a small California intrastate airline best remembered for a high-mortality 1 March 1964 crash of a Lockheed L-049 Constellation subsequent to a failed approach to South Lake Tahoe Airport in 1964, killing all 85 aboard.[3] The crash helped induce a substantial 1965 change in California's economic regulation of its intrastate airlines. The carrier was shut down by the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) on 4 March of that year.

History

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Main article: Intrastate carrier

Paradise Airlines was an intrastate airline, a type of carrier that, by flying within a single state, sidestepped regulation by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the now-defunct Federal agency that, at the time, tightly controlled almost all commercial air transport in the United States. As an intrastate airline, the carrier was operationally certificated by the Federal Aviation Agency (predecessor to today's Federal Aviation Administration) while being economically regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). As a California intrastate carrier, Paradise was limited to offering service only between points in California.

The airline was incorporated 27 June 1962[4] by Herman Jones and Henry Kengla.[5] Jones was president[6] and Kengla was initially vice president of operations.[7] However, the airline had been operating since April 1962.[8]

South Lake Tahoe Airport is located in California, close to the Nevada border, thus acting as a gateway to the casinos in Tahoe, Nevada. Paradise initially advertised its service in conjuction with Barney's Casino, Nevada.[9] In 1963, Paradise flew over 59,000 passengers into South Lake Tahoe.[7]

The airline initially flew a pair of 30-seat DC-3s,[10] expanding in 1963 with a pair of 80-seat Lockheed L-049 Constellations,[11] the first joining the fleet in March.[12] In May, the airline was permitted to fly into Tahoe at night.[13] Also in May, Paradise started Sacramento to Tahoe service.[14] In June the airline started brief-lived service from Los Angeles International Airport to Tahoe, dropping it citing conflicts with a US Forest Service contract.[15] In August 1963, Kengla stepped down from his position at Paradise.[7]

Crash

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Main article: Paradise Airlines Flight 901A

Paradise dispatched flight 901A from San Jose to Lake Tahoe on 1 March 1964 into weather that precluded the safe landing of the aircraft. The Constellation also had inadequate de-icing equipment to fly into icing conditions, inconsistent with the airlines own manuals. The pilot attempted to make a landing into poor weather, was unable to land and ascended to divert to Reno, which required flying over mountains. Unfortunately, the pilot became disoriented and crashed into mountains at about 8,700 ft, killing all 4 crew and 81 passengers on board.[3]

Paradise resumed operations on 3 March,[16] only for the FAA to issue an emergency suspension of its operating certificate, effective 4 March.[17] The airline lost an appeal and by May had shut down its Oakland airport HQ.[1]

Legacy

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The 1964 Paradise Airlines crash was a factor in passing 1965 legislation that changed the regulation of California intrastate airlines.[18] Until 1965, the CPUC could only regulate intrastate airline ticket prices, it otherwise had no control over entry. From 1965 until the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act stripped California of such powers, the CPUC also had the right to regulate entry (and exit) from all intrastate routes, including the ability to prevent an intrastate carrier from operating at all.[19][20] During the period 1965 to 1978, the CPUC certificated only two airlines flying large aircraft: Air California and Holiday Airlines,[21] the latter of which was founded in 1965 by Henry Kengla originally to fly the same San Francisco Bay area to Tahoe routes that Paradise had flown. Holiday was thus, in some respect, a successor to Paradise.

Fleet

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As of 31 December 1962:[10]

As of 31 December 1963:[11]

Destinations

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From an October 1963 timetable:[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Planes Remains Scoured For Clues, Oakland Tribune, 2 May 1964
  2. ^ Flights to Tahoe, Sacramento Union, 9 June 1963
  3. ^ a b Aircraft Accident Report: Paradise Airlines, Inc., Lockheed Constellation L-049, N 86504, Near Zephyr Cove, Nevada, March 1, 1964 (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. 15 July 1965. doi:10.21949/1500827.
  4. ^ Accident Report 1965, p. i.
  5. ^ Veteran Pilots Launched Line, Nevada State Journal, 3 March 1964
  6. ^ Destination Barney's Casino, Berkeley (CA) Gazette, 5 October 1962
  7. ^ a b c "Decision No. 71648, Application No. 47901, Case No. 8405 (December 6, 1966)". Decisions of the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California. 66. California Public Utilities Commission: 540. 1966. hdl:2027/uc1.b3274574.
  8. ^ Airline certified for Tahoe, Nevada State Journal, 15 December 1962
  9. ^ Classified ad for Paradise Airline and Barney's Club, Alameda (CA) Times Star, 17 April 1962
  10. ^ a b Statistical Study of U.S. Civil Aircraft, January 1962 and January 1963 (Report). Federal Aviation Agency. March 1964. pp. 22–23. hdl:2027/ien.35556029279023.
  11. ^ a b Federal Aviation Agency. FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation (Report). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 102–103. hdl:2027/mdp.39015007658456.
  12. ^ Paradise Airlines Boost Plane Spaces, Oakland Tribune, 15 March 1963
  13. ^ Capacity Inaugural Trip, Nevada State Journal, 7 May 1963
  14. ^ Fly Tahoe (Paradise Airlines advertisement), Sacramento Bee, 18 May 1963
  15. ^ Air Service Cancelled, Nevada State Journal, 4 July 1963
  16. ^ Paradise Back In the Air, San Francisco Examiner, 4 March 1964
  17. ^ Tahoe Line Planes All Grounded, Oakland Tribune, 4 March 1964
  18. ^ Saving Lives—And Airlines, Oakland Tribune, 2 August 1965
  19. ^ La Mond, Annette M. (Autumn 1976). "An Evaluation of Intrastate Airline Regulation in California". The Bell Journal of Economics. 7 (2): 641–657. Retrieved March 2, 2024.
  20. ^ Decisions of the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California (Report). Vol. 66. 1966. pp. 537–545.
  21. ^ Aviation Regulatory Reform: (Part I) Hearings before the Subcommittee on Aviation of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, House of Representatives, Ninety-Fifth Congress, First Session on H.R. 8813 (Introduced August 13, 1977) (Report). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1977. p. 670. hdl:2027/umn.31951002834663r.
  22. ^ "Paradise Airlines Flight Schedule". timetableimages.com. Paradise Airlines. 1 October 1963. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
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