Mount Kit Carson rises in northeastern Washington, northeast of Spokane, to 5,286 feet within Mount Spokane State Park, the largest state park in Washington at 13,919 acres. The mountain is also remembered for a major air disaster. On September 10, 1962, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker descending toward Fairchild Air Force Base crashed into a fog-covered ravine on the mountain. Based at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, the aircraft was destroyed and all 44 people aboard died. At the time, it was the worst aviation accident in United States history, later attributed to crew navigational error.