After seeing a plane had crashed near Mount Lukens on Chris Killian's web site, I resolved to try finding it. By coincident several days later I stumbled across what appeared to be a piece of an aircraft in the Stone Canyon wash.and remembered a piece of aluminum I saw last year that I though belonged to a smashed up boat, but now attribute it to the plane.
"10/20/48 Vultee BT13 crashed two miles north of Pennsylvania Avenue in La Crescenta. " this is the heading I saw, using a topo map I plotted 2 miles due north of the end of Pennsylvania Ave which put it in the general area of Haines Canyon North fork and the head of the main Stone Canyon channel.
On Sunday September 19th 1999 I hiked up Stone Canyon wash as far as I could with out unduly risking life and limb. I found bits of wreckage but no indication of any complete aircraft or whole parts of the plane. It appeared to me there where bits of wreckage on a east slope of the wash above where I found the most bits, but it was early and the sun was in my eyes. Perhaps it's further up the canyon past the dangerous area, perhaps it's been mashed to bit's and carried out the canyon by floods or buried under rocks?
I decided to make a day of it and hike up to the ridge and down the Stone Canyon Trail. The ascent to the ridge was not too difficult but it was steeper than I anticipated with angles approaching 75 degrees. Rather than do any more of that, I traversed the slope and got to the ridge separating Stone & Delta canyons, the brush here was impenetrable. So I dropped down and followed the ridge best I could until I had to get on the ridge because of the cliffs, fortunately there had been a fire break here many years ago and some places where "somewhat" open. At one point, crawling on my hands and knees I was wondering if I was going to be able to get to the top but eventually I made it. The trip up Stone Canyon wash to were I stopped took 1 1/2 hours, the cross country to the Stone Canyon trail took 3 1/2 hours, this is not a hike I would recommend to anyone but it can be done. If you do try this hike bring a folding pruning saw & extra blades or a heavy duty lopper, this would make the ridge portion of the hike faster and safer.
UPDATEOn Sunday September 26th 1999 A friend of Chris Killian and I went looking for the BT13, he is quite sure the wreck I found is not the one I thought it was but rather it's an older wreck.
"04/06/43 BT-13A flown by instructor William T. Nunn from Cal Aero
School at Ontario AAF crashed on north slope of Mt.
Lukens, above La Crescenta, killing him instantly."
Again all we found was mashed bits of plane and no complete parts.