Eastern Air Lines Flight 512

Last updated

Eastern Air Lines Flight 512
Douglas DC-7B, Eastern Air Lines JP7385912.jpg
An Eastern Air Lines DC-7, similar to the one involved in the crash
Accident
DateNovember 30, 1962
Summary Pilot error
Site Idlewild Airport
New York City, United States
Aircraft
Aircraft type Douglas DC-7B
Operator Eastern Air Lines
Registration N815D
Flight origin Charlotte Municipal Airport
Charlotte, North Carolina
Destination Idlewild Airport
New York City, New York
Occupants51
Passengers45
Crew6
Fatalities25
Survivors26

Eastern Air Lines Flight 512 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to New York City that crashed on November 30, 1962, killing 25 of the 51 people on board. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-7B operated by Eastern Air Lines, crashed at Idlewild Airport in heavy fog while attempting to perform a go-around. One of the plane's wings struck the ground and the plane crashed into soft sand in a marsh about 200 yards (180 m) from the runway, where it burst into flames. Emergency crews responded, but rescuers were delayed by the thick fog and the soft terrain. An investigation launched after the crash found that the probable cause of the accident was that the pilots had made critical mistakes during the go-around that prevented the aircraft from gaining altitude.

Contents

Accident

The flight left Charlotte Municipal Airport at 7:41 p.m. Eastern Standard time en route to Idlewild Airport in New York City. [1] : 2  Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) notifications had made the crew aware that the precision approach radar system at the airport was out of service. [1] : 2  [2] The weather forecast called for clear skies or scattered clouds. [1] : 2  While the flight was en route, patches of ground fog started developing at Idlewild. [1] : 3  At 8:57 p.m., the pilots were advised that there would be a delay of an undetermined length due to the fog. The flight entered a holding pattern until 9:33 p.m. when it was instructed to enter the approach path to runway 4R. [1] : 4, 7  Other aircraft landing ahead of the flight reported dense fog at ground level with extremely low visibility; pilots of one flight that had been cleared to take off requested a delay because the fog was too dense for safe operation. [1] : 3, 7, 9  Runway visual range instruments in the United States Weather Bureau office at the airport recorded visibility that had dropped to virtually zero shortly before the instruments failed completely, [3] but this information was not communicated to the tower personnel. As a result, the pilots of inbound aircraft were not made aware of the reduced visibility. Instead, the tower reported visibility of one mile (one point six kilometers), [2] although flight crews would have likely heard radio traffic from other pilots describing the poor conditions. [1] : 18  Rules that were in effect at the airport required a visibility of at least 2,000 feet (610 m) for a runway to remain open. [3]

As Flight 512 approached the runway, the pilots descended to as low as 25 feet (8 m) above the ground, about 1,000 feet (300 m) beyond the touchdown point on the runway. At that point, the crew decided to abandon the approach. [1] : 18–20  [4] They retracted the landing gear, changed the flaps setting from 40 degrees to 20 degrees, and angled the aircraft to begin climbing, with a climb angle of between three and five degrees above the level position. [1] : 19–20  However, the pilots did not increase the engine power. Because they had retracted the flaps without increasing the power that the engines were providing, the aircraft lost lift, one of the wings struck the ground, and the aircraft tumbled across a marsh. [1] : 20  [5]

The fuselage separated from the wings on a mound of earth approximately 3 feet (1 m) high, located 3,600 feet (1,100 m) down the runway. [1] : 12  The fuel tanks in the left wing ruptured, igniting a fire on the ground. [1] : 12  The fuselage broke apart approximately at the separator between the tourist and first class sections and came to rest in soft sand approximately 200 yards (180 m) from the runway. [1] : 12  [5] At 9:45 p.m., tower personnel saw a bright orange flash and initiated emergency procedures. [1] : 11  [5] They requested that the crew of American Airlines Flight 8, which was on approach immediately after Flight 512, overfly the runway to see if they could see what had happened. After the flyover, the crew reported back that they could see a fire to the left of the runway. [1] : 11  [5] [2]

Aftermath

After the crash, emergency vehicles were dispatched to the accident site, but they were delayed by the thick fog and the soft marshy terrain where the aircraft ended up. [5] One ambulance driver reported that visibility was as low as five feet (two meters), which made it difficult to locate the crash victims. [5] The arrival of some of the emergency vehicles from areas outside the airport was delayed by slow-moving traffic on nearby roads. [5] [6] Police prevented all but emergency traffic from entering the area, but curious onlookers still caused traffic congestion on the streets around the airport. [6] Many were seen walking around the perimeter, having left their vehicles on surrounding roads. [6] The airport was closed to air traffic until 7:10 a.m. the following morning. [2]

Survivors said that the plane burst into flames immediately after the crash. [4] While the rear section of the fuselage remained relatively intact, other sections of the fuselage, engine parts, and broken pieces of propellers, were scattered around the crash site. [5]

Many of the survivors were thrown clear of the aircraft when it hit the ground, still strapped to their seats. [5] [7] Others climbed out of the broken fuselage and were assisted by the two flight attendants to safety. [2] Victims were taken to the airport's medical center, Peninsula General Hospital, or Queens General Hospital. [5] Two of the survivors had critical injuries, while others were less seriously injured. [7]

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Douglas DC-7B four-engined passenger aircraft. It was manufactured in September 1956 and had manufacturer's serial number 45084. It was registered by Eastern Air Lines with tail number N815D and had a total flying time of 18,411 hours at the time of the crash. It was powered by four Wright model 972TC18DA piston propeller engines. [1] : iii  [8]

Passengers and crew

The captain of the flight was Edward Bechtold, aged 43. [1] : i  He had been employed at Eastern Air Lines since April 1945 and had logged a total of 15,644 hours of flight time, including 2,700 on the DC-7 type aircraft. [1] : i  In 1943, he received the Air Medal for meritorious achievement from Lieutenant General George C. Kenney, commander of Allied air forces in the Southwest Pacific. [9] He was the chairman of the New York Air Safety Committee. [9] The copilot was Julius Wagner, aged 45. He had been employed at the airline since March 1951 and had accumulated a total of 9,042 hours of flight time, including 1,610 hours in the DC-7. The flight engineer was Robert Voorhees, age 31. He had accumulated a total of 4,080 hours of flight time, which included 149 hours as a flight engineer and 718 hours as a pilot in DC-7 aircraft. He had been employed at the airline since August 1957. [1] : ii  All three pilots were killed in the crash. [5] An additional crew member who was not working this flight occupied the jump seat in the cockpit and was also killed. [1] : i 

The two flight attendants, Helen Fournier, aged 21, and Patricia Richards, aged 22, survived the crash and assisted with the evacuation of survivors of the crash. [7] They were credited with saving the lives of people who might have otherwise died in the fire that consumed the aircraft after the crash. [7] Fournier had started her employment with Eastern Air Lines in April 1962, and was on only her third flight at the time of the crash. [1] : ii  [7]

The plane carried 45 passengers at the time of the crash. All of the passengers were from the United States except one, who was from Canada. [5] Twenty one of the passengers were killed, and some of the survivors were injured. [1] : 1  [5] All of the survivors were seated in the rear half of the plane, which remained intact long enough for them to escape. [7]

Investigation

A team of 80 flight experts, including a team of 24 from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), began an investigation, supervised by G. Joseph Minetti and assisted by George A. Van Epps, supervisory air safety investigator for the New York Region. The overall investigation was directed by Arthur E. Newsmann, the person in charge of the Denver office. [2]

On October 10, 1963, the CAB released its final accident report. In it, they found that the probable cause of the accident was the technique employed by the crew during their abandonment of the aircraft's approach in the unexpected fog conditions. [1] : 1  The board concluded that if the crew had either rotated the aircraft to a higher nose-up position, or had used more engine power, the plane's descent would have been arrested and the accident avoided. [1] : 21 

Related Research Articles

Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major American airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenerife airport disaster</span> 1977 runway collision in Spain and deadliest crash in aviation history

The Tenerife airport disaster occurred on March 27, 1977, when two Boeing 747 passenger jets collided on the runway at Los Rodeos Airport on the Spanish island of Tenerife. The collision occurred when KLM Flight 4805 initiated its takeoff run while Pan Am Flight 1736 was still on the runway. The impact and resulting fire killed everyone on board KLM 4805 and most of the occupants of Pan Am 1736, with only 61 survivors in the front section of the aircraft. With 583 fatalities, the disaster is the deadliest accident in aviation history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luxair Flight 9642</span> 2002 aviation accident

Luxair Flight 9642 (LG9642/LGL9642) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Berlin, Germany, to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, operated by Luxembourg national airline Luxair. On 6 November 2002, the aircraft operating the flight, a Fokker 50 registered as LX-LGB, lost control and crashed onto a field during an attempted landing at the airport. Out of 22 passengers and crew members on board, only two people survived. The crash is the deadliest aviation disaster to occur in Luxembourg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas DC-7</span> US airliner with 4 piston engines, 1953

The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered transport made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the earliest jet airliner—the de Havilland Comet—entered service and only a few years before the jet-powered Douglas DC-8 first flew in 1958. Unlike other aircraft in Douglas's line of propeller-driven aircraft, no examples remain in service in the present day, as compared to the far more successful DC-3 and DC-6.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1960 New York mid-air collision</span> 1960 aviation disaster in New York City

On December 16, 1960, a United Airlines Douglas DC-8 bound for Idlewild Airport in New York City collided in midair with a TWA Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation descending toward LaGuardia Airport. The Constellation crashed on Miller Field in Staten Island and the DC-8 in Park Slope, Brooklyn, killing all 128 aboard the two aircraft and six people on the ground. The accident was the world's deadliest aviation disaster at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air China Flight 129</span> 2002 aviation accident in South Korea

Air China Flight 129 (CCA129/CA129) was a scheduled international passenger flight, operated by Air China, from Beijing Capital International Airport to Gimhae International Airport in Busan. On April 15, 2002, the aircraft on this route, a Boeing 767-200ER, crashed into a hill near the airport, killing 129 of the 166 people on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Airlines Flight 157</span> 1949 aviation accident

American Airlines Flight 157, a Douglas DC-6, departed on November 29, 1949, from New York City bound for Mexico City with 46 passengers and crew. After one engine failed in mid-flight, a series of critical mistakes by the flight crew caused the pilot to lose control of the plane during the final approach to a routine stopover at Love Field in Dallas, Texas. The airliner slid off the runway and struck a parked airplane, a hangar, and a flight school before crashing into a business across from the airport. 26 passengers and two flight attendants died. The pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer, and 15 passengers survived.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145</span> 2005 aviation accident

Sosoliso Airlines Flight 1145(SO1145/OSL1145) was a scheduled Nigerian domestic passenger flight from Nigeria's capital of Abuja (ABV) to Port Harcourt (PHC). At about 14:08 local time on 10 December 2005, Flight 1145 from Abuja crash-landed at Port Harcourt International Airport. The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 with 110 people on board, slammed into the ground and burst into flames. Immediately after the crash, seven survivors were recovered and taken to hospitals, but only two people survived.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Airways Flight 242</span> 1977 aviation accident

Southern Airways Flight 242 was a flight from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to Atlanta, Georgia, with a stop in Huntsville, Alabama. On April 4, 1977, it executed a forced landing on Georgia State Route 381 in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia, United States, after suffering hail damage and losing thrust on both engines in a severe thunderstorm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Canada Flight 646</span> 1997 aviation accident

Air Canada Flight 646 was a flight from Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport to Fredericton, New Brunswick, operated by Air Canada. On December 16, 1997, at 23:48 local time, the Canadair CRJ100ER (CL-65) jet crashed after a failed go-around attempt in Fredericton. All passengers and crew survived, despite a 1-hour, 30-minute emergency response time and inadequate emergency training of the flight crew. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and written off, making the accident the second hull loss of a CRJ100.

The article describes accidents and incidents on Korean Air and its predecessor companies Korean National Airlines and KAL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linjeflyg Flight 267V</span> 1964 aviation accident

Linjeflyg Flight 267V was a controlled flight into terrain by a Convair 440-75 Metropolitan on 20 November 1964 at 21:14 in Ängelholm, Skåne, Sweden. The Linjeflyg pilots, misled by a non-conventional military runway light configuration, descended too early and on a faulty course during approach to Ängelholm–Helsingborg Airport. The crash killed 31 of 43 people on board, making it the deadliest aviation accident in Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Airlines Flight 2605</span> 1979 aviation accident

Western Airlines Flight 2605, nicknamed the "Night Owl", was an international scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles, California to Mexico City, Mexico. On October 31, 1979, at 5:42 a.m. CST (UTC−06:00), the McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operating the flight crashed at Mexico City International Airport in fog after landing on a runway that was closed for maintenance. Of the 89 people on board, 72 were killed, in addition to a maintenance worker who died when the plane struck his vehicle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1959 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crash</span> 1959 aviation accident

The 1959 Turkish Airlines Gatwick crash occurred on 17 February 1959, near London Gatwick Airport to a Turkish Airlines Vickers Viscount Type 793 on an international charter flight from Esenboğa International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, to London Heathrow Airport, however the Viscount diverted to London Gatwick Airport, United Kingdom due to heavy fog. It was carrying the Turkish prime minister and a party of government officials. The Viscount crashed in a wood 3 miles (4.8 km) from the threshold of Gatwick runway during its final approach to land in extensive fog. Five of the eight crew and nine of the 16 passengers died in the crash. The prime minister was among the ten survivors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Wayne County Airport runway collision</span> Collision of two Northwest Airlines jetliners at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

The 1990 Wayne County Airport runway collision involved the collision of two Northwest Airlines jetliners at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on December 3, 1990. Flight 1482, a scheduled Douglas DC-9-14 operating from Detroit to Pittsburgh International Airport, taxied by mistake onto an active runway in dense fog and was hit by a departing Boeing 727 operating as Flight 299 to Memphis International Airport. One member of the crew and seven passengers of the DC-9 were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henan Airlines Flight 8387</span> 2010 aviation accident

Henan Airlines Flight 8387 was a domestic flight operated by Henan Airlines from Harbin to Yichun, China. On the night of 24 August 2010, the Embraer E190 operating the route crashed on approach to Yichun Lindu Airport in fog. Forty-four of the 96 people on board were killed. It was the first hull loss and the first fatal accident involving the Embraer E190.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1983 Anchorage runway collision</span> Aviation accident in 1983

On 23 December 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 084 (KAL084), a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 performing a cargo flight, collided during its takeoff roll with SouthCentral Air Flight 59 (SCA59), a Piper PA-31-350, on runway 06L/24R at Anchorage International Airport, as a result of the KAL084 flight crew becoming disoriented while taxiing in dense fog and attempting to take off on the wrong runway. Both aircraft were destroyed, but no fatalities resulted.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 "Aircraft Accident Report, Douglas DC-7B, N815D Eastern Air Lines, Inc., New York International Airport Jamaica, New York November 30, 1962" . Department of Transportation Library. United States Department of Transportation. October 8, 1963. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Oerlmutter, Emanuel (December 2, 1962). "3 Idlewild Safety Devices Were Off at Time of Crash" . The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  3. 1 2 Witkin, Richard (December 5, 1962). "Visibility Procedures at Idlewild Questioned in Crash Fatal to 25" . The New York Times. p. 93. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  4. 1 2 "Survivors Tell of Fleeing Fire" . The New York Times. December 1, 1962. p. 12. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Robinson, Douglas (December 1, 1962). "25 are Killed, 25 Rescued as DC-7 Crashes and Burns at Idlewild in Heavy Fog" . The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "Police Keep Public from Crash Scene" . The New York Times. December 1, 1962. p. 12. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Feats of Heroism Abound in Crash" . The New York Times. December 2, 1962. p. 67. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  8. ↑ "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-7B N815D New York-Idlewild International Airport, NY (IDL)". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Captain of Plane Noted for Views on Flight Safety" . The New York Times. December 1, 1962. p. 12. Retrieved May 1, 2019.

40°38′28″N73°48′25″W / 40.641°N 73.807°W / 40.641; -73.807

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.