- West Coast Airlines
granted the first regional airline certificate to West Coast Airlines.
On
July 1 ,1968 , West Coast merged withPacific Air Lines andBonanza Air Lines to form Air West, laterHughes Airwest . At the time of the merger, West Coast operated a fleet ofMcDonnell Douglas DC-9 , Fairchild F-27 andPiper aircraft. (After further mergers, the airline became part of what is nowNorthwest 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 severalNorthern California cities with Las Vegas, Reno and San Diego. The abortive effort ended inbankruptcy . [ [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 operatesfloatplane services between Vancouver and Victoria,British Columbia .Notable accidents
*
West Coast Airlines Flight 956 crashed onOctober 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
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