Plane Chartered by the U.S. Immigration Services Crashes

On January 28, 1948, a twin-engine DC-3C chartered by the U.S. Immigration Service from Airline Transport Carriers of Burbank, California crashed in western Fresno County's Los Gatos Canyon, killing all 32 people on board, including 28 Mexican farm workers being deported by the U.S. Immigration Service. Eyewitnesses saw at least nine people leap to their deaths. Twelve of the farm workers were never identified. The newspaper reported later that hundreds from "Fresno's Mexican colony" - the local Latino community - wept during Catholic services at a mass burial.

The plane crashed in Los Gatos Creek Canyon west from the town of Coalinga. The site is on private land and trespassing is prohibited. The site is a small empty field that can be seen from the county road. The wreckage site was cleaned up soon after the crash and nothing is left. Treasure hunters using metal detectors removed remaining debris during the 1950s/1960s.

http://www.picacho.org/interest/dc3-site.html