1961 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4 crash

1961 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4 crash
	A C-54 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	November 14, 1961
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
Site	Hebron, Kentucky, U.S.
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-4
Operator	Zantop Air Transport
Registration	N30061
Flight origin	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupants	3
Crew	3
Fatalities	0
Injuries	2
Survivors	3

Last updated November 15, 2023

A Zantop Air Transport Douglas DC-4 was on its final approach to Greater Cincinnati Airport runway 18 (now runway 18C), when it clipped some trees and crashed into a wooded area north of the airport.^[1] This was the first of at least three aircraft on their final approach that failed to reach runway 18 at the Greater Cincinnati Airport, becoming victims of the area's hilly terrain with steep changes in elevation from the Ohio River,^[2] the others being American Airlines Flight 383 and TWA Flight 128.

Crash

The pilot, Calvin Goutier, the co-pilot, Richard Breathren, and the unnamed flight engineer were flying from Detroit, Michigan, carrying automotive parts for General Motors Corporation to the airport for a routine landing while en route to Atlanta, Georgia.^[3] In the crash the fuselage broke into two pieces and the wreckage was strewn along a 400-foot (122-m) path. The crash occurred about 5:26 a.m.^[4]

The plane had been tracked by radar and suddenly disappeared from the radar screen, and airport authorities saw a large flash.^[4]

The crew exited through an escape hatch, surviving with minor injuries (Goutier a sprained ankle and Breathren a leg injury).^[5] They walked to Kentucky Route 20, about 1+1⁄2 miles (2.4 km) away, for help. A passing motorist, who worked for Delta Air Lines, noted a person walking out of the woods and continued driving to the airport.^{[ citation needed ]} Later, Delta employees picked up the crew members.

Aircraft

The DC-4 aircraft involved was originally a United States Army Air Forces Douglas Skymaster, s/n 42-72226, which had been re-purchased by Douglas Aircraft Company on October 1, 1945, and reconfigured into a DC-4. On January 9, 1946, it was sold to United Airlines bearing US registration number N30061. United leased the airliner to Slick Airways on June 20, 1956. On June 4, 1959, it was sold to Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, who leased it back to Slick Airways until June 1960. Zantop Air Transport bought the aircraft in June 1960 and operated it as a cargo plane until it crashed.^[6]

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References

↑ The Middletown Journal, November 14, 1961
↑ Time (magazine)
↑ Albuquerque Tribune, November 14, 1961
1 2 New Castle News, November 15, 1961
↑ Albuquerque Journal, November 15, 1961
↑ att.net Archived February 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

External links

Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

39°02′56″N84°40′04″W / 39.04889°N 84.66778°W / 39.04889; -84.66778

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[1] The Middletown Journal, November 14, 1961

[2] Time (magazine)

[3] Albuquerque Tribune, November 14, 1961

[ReferenceA-4] 1 2 New Castle News, November 15, 1961

[5] Albuquerque Journal, November 15, 1961

[6] tt.net Archived February 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1960s
1960	National Airlines Flight 2511 Capital Airlines Flight 20 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710 Chicago Helicopter Airways Flight 698 World Airways Flight 830 Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 Cal Poly football team New York mid-air collision
1961	Goldsboro B-52 American Airlines Flight 1502 Yuba City B-52 United Air Lines Flight 859 Alaska Airlines Flight 779 TWA Flight 529 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4
1962	American Airlines Flight 1 Continental Airlines Flight 11 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 United Air Lines Flight 297 Eastern Air Lines Flight 512
1963	Elephant Mountain B-52 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 Camden PA-24 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112 Pan Am Flight 214
1964	Savage Mountain B-52 Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 Paradise Airlines Flight 901A Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 United Air Lines Flight 823 Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114 Flying Tiger Line Flight 282
1965	USAF KC-135 Wichita Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 Pan Am Flight 843 Continental Airlines Flight 12 Allegheny Airlines Flight 604 United Air Lines Flight 389 American Airlines Flight 383 United Air Lines Flight 227 Carmel mid-air (Eastern 853, TWA 42)
1966	NASA T-38 American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D Braniff International Airways Flight 250 West Coast Airlines Flight 956
1967	Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 TWA Flight 553 West Coast Airlines Flight 720 Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 TWA Flight 159 X-15 Flight 3-65-97 TWA Flight 128
1968	Ozark Air Lines Flight 965 Braniff International Airways Flight 352 Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 Northeast Airlines Flight 946 Japan Air Lines Flight 2 Pan Am Flight 281 Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 Pan Am Flight 799 North Central Airlines Flight 458 Ozark Air Lines Flight 982
1969	Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 United Air Lines Flight 266 Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 Prinair Flight 277 Delta Air Lines Flight 821 TWA Flight 5787 Newton Cessna 172 crash Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 Mohawk Airlines Flight 411
This list is incomplete.