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combination Flights 200/221. The Los Angeles to San Francisco segment was designated as Flight 200 and was scheduled to depart Los Angeles at 2000. The return segment to Los Angeles was designated as Flight 221 and was scheduled to depart San Francisco at 2200.
The crew consisted of the captain, first officer, second officer, and two stewardesses. Another WAL captain was occupying the cockpit jump seat in the capacity of company check pilot.[1]
A weather briefing and dispatch release were furnished to the crew by a company dispatcher at 1915, prior to the flight's departure from Los Angeles. Attached to the dispatch release were the 1900 U. S. Weather Bureau (USWB) sequence reports for the Los Angeles terminal, as well as for intermediate and alternate airports. The reported weather for Los Angeles International Airport at this time was in part: Clear, visibility 3 miles, smoke and haze, temperature 56°F., dewpoint 52°F., wind west-southwest 5 knots.
The latest available USWB terminal forecast for Los Angeles International Airport issued at 1445 and covering the period from 1500 December 17, 1963, to 0300 December 18, 1963 was 15,000 feet scattered, 7 miles visibility and at 1900 was to become clear with 7 miles visibility.
However, the WAL dispatcher, responsible for Flight 200/221 stated that he discussed the weather forecast for Los Angeles with the captain during the briefing. Based on existing fog conditions in nearby areas, he advised the captain to expect fog conditions with low visibility on his return to Los Angeles rather than the clear skies called for in the USWB forecast.
Flight 200 departed Los Angeles at 2005 and arrived in San Francisco at 2134. The captain and check pilot proceeded to the WAL Operations office where they checked the latest existing and forecast weather for Los Angeles and points en route in preparation for Flight 221. The flight was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles at 2336. The latest weather reported for the Los Angeles International Airport at this time was the 2100 USWB sequence report. It was Partial obscuration, 16,000 feet scattered, visibility 2 miles, haze, smoke, temperature 55°F., dewpoint 52°F., wind east-northeast 3 knots, altimeter setting 30.11 inches, runway 07 runway visibility[2] 1/2 mile, runway 24 runway visibility, 1/4 mile, runway 06 runway visibility less than 3/16 mile, haze obscuring 1/10 of the sky, visibility west one mile.
- ↑ This was the captain's first trip as pilot-in-command since June 1960. In accordance with company policy, a check captain was assigned to the flight to requalify the assigned captain for the route involved.
- ↑ Runway visibility is the meteorological visibility along an identified runway. Where a transmissometer is used for measurement, as it is at the Los Angeles International Airport, the instrument is calibrated in terms of a human observer, 1.8., the sighting of dark objects against the horizon sky during daylight and the sighting of moderately intense unfocused lights in the order of 25 candlepower al night.
