A Puente Hills canyon where a 1952 charter flight crashed killing all 29 aboard; hikers report sounds resembling explosions and see smoke where no fire exists.
Turnbull Canyon Road, Whittier, CA 90601
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free public access to Puente Hills trail system.
Access
Limited Access
Steep canyon trails with loose gravel and significant elevation change; not suitable for wheelchairs or strollers.
Equipment
Photos OK
1952 Aviation Disaster · Puente Hills History · North Continent Airlines Crash
On the morning of April 18, 1952, a twin-engine Curtiss C-46F operated by North Continent Airlines under its 'Robin Airlines' brand name was on the final leg of a transcontinental charter from New York City to Burbank, California. Low visibility and fog at Burbank Airport prompted diversion to Los Angeles International Airport, and the aircraft descended through fog on an instrument approach to LAX with its landing gear already extended.
At 3:34 a.m., the left main wheel of the aircraft struck a fog-shrouded ridge at 1,046 feet elevation in the undeveloped Puente Hills, east of Whittier. The plane plowed down an embankment, careened across a ravine, and exploded into flames on a steep hillside. All 29 people aboard — passengers and crew — were killed. The dense chaparral and darkness made the crash site difficult to locate; rescuers did not reach the wreckage for nearly seven hours.
In the investigation aftermath, the Civil Aeronautics Administration suspended the operating rights of North Continent Airlines, citing the company's history of air regulation violations and prior accidents. The canyon's rugged, largely undeveloped terrain means the area of the crash remains without a formal memorial or marker. Local documentation of the event comes primarily from newspaper archives and the GenDisasters historical disaster database.
Sources
The canyon's reputation for paranormal activity draws directly from the 1952 crash. Hikers and visitors have reported auditory anomalies — a deep percussive sound described as an explosion — emanating from the upper ridgeline. Separate accounts describe smoke visible rising from the crash area on clear days when no fire is burning. US Ghost Adventures, a national tour operator, documents these reports alongside the confirmed historical event.
Caveats matter here. The canyon sits in an active fire zone — the Puente Hills see frequent brush fires, and the area has history of chaparral burning both naturally and through controlled burns. Smoke sightings may have mundane explanations. The explosion sounds are less easily accounted for in the documented literature.
The discovery candidates also reference Tongva accounts associated with the canyon. The Tongva people inhabited the Los Angeles Basin for thousands of years before Spanish colonization, and oral traditions from Tongva and neighboring groups reference specific landscape features throughout the Puente Hills. Attributing specific modern paranormal claims to pre-contact Indigenous history requires documentation we do not have; those connections are noted in the source material but not included here as verified.
Public hiking trails run through the Puente Hills Habitat Preserve along Turnbull Canyon Road. The 1952 crash site lies within the canyon ridgeline area above Whittier; no formal memorial marker exists at the site. Trail distances range from 2 to 6 miles depending on route.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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