American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D

American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D

An American Flyers L-188, similar to the one involved at Lindbergh Field in 1963.
Accident
Date	April 22, 1966
Summary	Pilot incapacitation
Site	2.4 km northeast of Ardmore Municipal Airport, United States 34°19′46″N96°58′55″W / 34.3294°N 96.9819°W / 34.3294; -96.9819
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-188C Electra
Operator	American Flyers Airline
Registration	N183H [1]
Flight origin	Monterey Regional Airport
Stopover	Ardmore Municipal Airport
Destination	Columbus Airport
Occupants	98
Passengers	93
Crew	5
Fatalities	83
Injuries	15
Survivors	15

American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D was a flight operated on a U.S. Military Air Command contract from Monterey Regional Airport in California to Columbus Airport in Georgia, via Ardmore Municipal Airport, Oklahoma. On April 22, 1966, while approaching Runway 8 at Ardmore, the aircraft overshot the runway and crashed into a hill, bursting into flames. ^[2] Eighty-three of the 98 passengers and crew on board died as a result of the accident. ^[3]

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Lockheed L-188 Electra four-engined turboprop airline registered as N183H. ^[4] It had first flown in January 1961 and was bought by American Flyers Airline in January 1963. ^[5] It is the same plane that carried the Beatles from city to city in 1964 during their second tour of the U.S. ^[6]

Investigation

The U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) investigated the accident. ^{[1] : 1  [7]}

Investigators found no evidence of mechanical failure or defect related to the accident, although the flight data recorder had suffered a mechanical failure unrelated to the accident and may not have been properly checked by the flight engineer before the flight; it had produced no recording for the flight. ^[8] The airplane did not have (and was not required to have) a cockpit voice recorder. ^[1]

Some days after the crash, it was learned that the pilot, Reed Pigman, who also happened to be the president of American Flyers, was under care for arteriosclerosis. ^[9] An autopsy of Pigman determined his cause of death to either be multiple injuries or coronary artery sclerosis. ^[10]

It was also determined that Reed Pigman had falsified his application for a first-class medical certificate. He had not disclosed that he was diabetic or that he had a history of heart issues dating back almost two decades; either of these would have been disqualifying factors for the certificate. ^[11]

On March 28, 1967, the CAB published its final report. The CAB determined that the probable cause for the accident was:

[T]he incapacitation, due to a coronary insufficiency, of the pilot-in-command at a critical point during visual, circling approach being conducted under instrument flight conditions. ^{[1] : 1}

See also

• Oklahoma portal
• Aviation portal

• List of unrecovered and unusable flight recorders

References

1. "Aircraft Accident Report, American Flyers Airline Corporation L-188C, N183H, Near Ardmore Municipal Airport, Ardmore, Oklahoma, April 22, 1966" (PDF). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 28, 1967. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
2. "Investigators Seek Cause of Air Crash Fatal to 81". Eugene Register-Guard . No. 102 (City ed.). Eugene, Oregon. Associated Press. April 23, 1966. p.  1A . Retrieved November 23, 2020– via Google News. The plane was on a cross-country flight from Fort Ord, Calif., to Fort Benning, Ga., and its 92 passengers were Army recruits who had recently completed basic training.
3. "Crash of a Lockheed L-188C Electra in Ardmore: 83 killed". www.baaa-acro.com. Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
4. "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-188C Electra N183H Ardmore Municipal Airport, OK (ADM)". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. April 22, 1966. Retrieved December 22, 2012.
5. Eastwood, Tony (1990). Turbo Prop Airliner Production List. The Aviation Hobby Shop. p. 321. ISBN   978-0-907178-32-3.
6. "The Beatles and a man named Pigman".
7. Johns, Paul (January 14, 2014). "The Beatles and a man named Pigman". MarshfieldMail.com. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
8. ICAO Circular 96-AN/79
9. "Pilot involved in fatal crash had ailment". The Times-News . Vol. 91, no. 115. Hendersonville, North Carolina. United Press International. May 14, 1966. p. 1. Retrieved December 22, 2012– via Google Books.
10. "Autopsy rates heart ailment as advanced". The Altus Times-Democrat . Vol. 40, no. 101. United Press International. May 26, 1966. p. 1. Retrieved December 22, 2012– via Google Books.
11. Gero, David (1996). Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 70.