West Coast Airlines

granted the first regional airline certificate to West Coast Airlines.

On July 1, 1968, West Coast merged with Pacific Air Lines and Bonanza Air Lines to form Air West, later Hughes Airwest. At the time of the merger, West Coast operated a fleet of McDonnell Douglas DC-9, Fairchild F-27 and Piper aircraft. (After further mergers, the airline became part of what is now Northwest Airlines).

In 2001, an attempt was made to resurrect the West Coast Airlines name, with plans for an airline based in Concord, California, to connect several Northern California cities with Las Vegas, Reno and San Diego. The abortive effort ended in bankruptcy. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/eastbay/stories/2002/01/14/story2.html "Concord airline grounded by bankruptcy" "East Bay Business Times", 11 January 2002] ]

An airline with the similar name West Coast Air operates floatplane services between Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.

Notable accidents

* West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashed on October 1, 1966 with eighteen fatal injuries and no survivors convert|5.5|mi|km south of Wemme, Oregon. This marked the first loss of a Douglas DC-9. [ [http://amelia.db.erau.edu/reports/ntsb/aar/AAR67-AF.pdf National Transportation Safety Board: "Aircraft Accident Report. West Coast Airlines, Inc DC-9 N9101. Near Wemme, Oregon"] , Adopted: 11 December 1967]

References

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20060219214101/http://www.westcoastairlines.com/ Enthusiast site with photographs and memorabilia] - February 2006 archive.org copy of defunct www.westcoastairlines.com
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/operator/airline.php?var=4598 West Coast Airlines accidents] - Aviation Safety Network
* [http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0193181/M/ Photograph of a West Coast Airlines F-27, April 1967] - airliners.net
* [http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0193178/M/ Photograph of a West Coast Airlines F-27, August 1968] - airliners.net
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncvTMFL5kxc Video clip about West Coast Airlines] - youtube.com
* [http://www.williamdemarest.com/Hughes%20Airwest.htm Gallery of West Coast Airlines postcards] - williamdemarest.com
* [http://www.aerosite.net/content/view/1661/41/ West Coast Airlines corporate logos] - aerosite.net
* [http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/00358.html#series10 West Coast Airlines records] - inventory of artifacts stored at the Minnesota Historical Society