Accident | |
---|---|
Date | November 1, 1949 |
Summary | Mid-air collision |
Site | Alexandria, Virginia, United States 38°50.1′N77°02.7′W / 38.8350°N 77.0450°W |
Total fatalities | 55 |
Total injuries | 1 |
Total survivors | 1 |
First aircraft | |
![]() An Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-4, similar to the one involved in the crash | |
Type | Douglas DC-4 |
Operator | Eastern Air Lines |
Registration | N88727 [1] |
Flight origin | LaGuardia Airport, Queens, New York |
Destination | Washington-National Airport, DC |
Occupants | 55 |
Passengers | 51 |
Crew | 4 |
Fatalities | 55 |
Survivors | 0 |
Second aircraft | |
![]() A Lockheed P-38L Lightning, the type involved in the crash | |
Type | Lockheed P-38L Lightning |
Operator | Lockheed |
Registration | NX-26927 |
Occupants | 1 |
Crew | 1 |
Fatalities | 0 |
Injuries | 1 |
Survivors | 1 |
Eastern Air Lines Flight 537, registration N88727, was a Douglas DC-4 aircraft en route from Boston, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C., via intermediate points on November 1, 1949. NX-26927 was a Lockheed P-38 Lightning being test-flown for acceptance by the government of Bolivia by Erick Rios Bridoux of the Bolivian Air Force. The two aircraft collided in mid-air at an altitude of 300 feet about half a mile southwest of the threshold of Runway 3 at Washington National Airport, killing all 55 aboard the DC-4 and seriously injuring the pilot of the P-38. [2] [3] At the time it was the deadliest airliner incident in United States history. [4] [5] [6]
The tower controllers on duty that day at National testified that the P-38 had taken off on Runway 3, turned left north of the Pentagon, circled over Arlington, then returned, requesting permission to land due to engine trouble. The controller cleared the aircraft to join the left traffic pattern, but instead it flew south of the airport and entered a long straight-in approach at the same time Flight 537 was turning onto a shorter final. The controller then called Flight 537 ordering it to turn left; it began the turn, but by then the P-38, being considerably faster than a DC-4 on final, overtook the aircraft a half mile southwest of the threshold of Runway 3. [2]
The DC-4 was cut in half by the left propeller of the P-38 just forward of the trailing edge of the wing. The aft portion of the DC-4 fell to the ground on the west bank of the Potomac River; other pieces were located in Alexandria, Virginia, at the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad Potomac Yard and on a highway passing near the Yard. The fore portion of the aircraft fell into the river, as did the P-38. [2]
Many hours following the collision of an Eastern Air Lines passenger transport and a Bolivian fighter plane, the search went on today under the glare of floodlights for the nine passengers whose bodies had not yet been recovered.
Shocked Members of Congress, stunned by the loss of one of their own number (Republican George J. Bates), promised a complete air safety investigation. The Civil Aeronautics Board said its hearings into the cause of the crash will start in a few days. The airline scheduled a probe of its own, as well. The disaster occurred as the big DC-4 transport headed into the National Airport for a landing shortly before noon, flying at about 300 feet.
Into the traffic pattern, calling for landing instructions, came a P-38 fighter piloted by Bolivia's top airman, Erick Rios Bridoux. Bridoux was testing the twin-engine craft which his government had purchased from the United States. An airport tower operator a bare half-mile away saw the P-38 bear down on the transport. He cried a radio warning to the 28-year-old Bolivian, but the P-38 kept coming. Then the tower frantically signalled the transport. The DC-4 pilot swerved the big ship from its path, but too late. The fighter ripped into it from above and from the side. The airliner split in half. Bodies and wreckage fell into the water and along the bank of the Potomac.
— November 2, 1949, Herald-Press , St. Joseph, Michigan.
Air Force Sergeant Morris J. Flounlacker hauled the weakly treading Bridoux out of the Potomac, just as the wounded pilot lost consciousness. At Alexandria Hospital, doctors found he had a broken back, crushed ribs and serious contusions. [4]
Bridoux contradicted much of the tower controllers' testimony when he spoke to Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) investigators. He claimed he had taken off from Runway 36, had been in constant contact with the tower, and had been explicitly cleared to land on Runway 3 under the call sign "Bolivian 927". However, the testimony of both the tower personnel and a military controller listening in on the frequency from his position at Bolling Air Force Base (as well as other discrepancies in the P-38 pilot's testimony) led the CAB to discount Bridoux's version of events. [2] As Bridoux spoke and understood English well, it was thought that language difficulties played no part in the accident.
The CAB determined the primary probable causes of the accident to be the P-38 pilot's decision to land without proper clearance and his failure to exercise normal vigilance in looking out for conflicting traffic. [5] The CAB also found that the tower controllers failed to exercise due vigilance in not notifying the pilots of Flight 537 earlier as to the critical traffic situation developing. However, the report also states that even if Flight 537 had received earlier advice with respect to the P-38's location, it might still have been too late to avoid the accident, as Bridoux's actions left Flight 537 only a few seconds in which to turn. [2]
Among the dead on Flight 537 were Congressman George J. Bates, New Yorker cartoonist Helen E. Hokinson, and former Congressman Michael J. Kennedy. [4] [7]
An airfield traffic pattern is a standard path followed by aircraft when taking off or landing while maintaining visual contact with the airfield.
Capital Airlines was an airline serving the eastern, southern, southeastern, and midwestern United States. Capital's headquarters were located at Washington National Airport across the Potomac river from Washington, D.C., where crew training and aircraft overhauls were also accomplished. In the 1950s Capital was the fifth largest United States domestic carrier by passenger count after the Big Four air carriers.
On the evening of February 1, 1991, USAir Flight 1493, a Boeing 737-300, collided with SkyWest Airlines Flight 5569, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner turboprop aircraft, upon landing at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). As Flight 1493 was on final approach the local controller was distracted, though air traffic was not heavy at LAX, by a series of abnormalities, including a misplaced flight progress strip and an aircraft that had inadvertently switched off the tower frequency. The SkyWest flight was told to taxi into takeoff position, while the USAir flight was landing on the same runway.
Frederick Municipal Airport is a public airport located in the city of Frederick, in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. This airport is publicly owned by the City of Frederick.
USAir Flight 1016 was a regularly scheduled flight in the southeastern United States, between Columbia, South Carolina, and Charlotte, North Carolina. On July 2, 1994, the flight encountered heavy thunderstorms and microburst-induced windshear while attempting to land, and crashed into heavy trees and a private residence near the airport. The crash and ensuing fire caused 37 fatalities and seriously injured twenty others.
Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 was a domestic passenger flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to Atlanta, Georgia, with scheduled stopovers at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York; Richmond, Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Greenville, South Carolina. On the night of February 8, 1965, the aircraft serving the flight, a Douglas DC-7, crashed near Jones Beach State Park, New York, just after taking off from JFK Airport. All 79 passengers and five crew aboard perished.
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.
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.
United Airlines Flight 227 (N7030U), a scheduled passenger flight from LaGuardia Airport New York City to San Francisco International Airport, California, crashed short of the runway while attempting a scheduled landing at Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah, on Thursday, November 11, 1965.
American Airlines Flight 383 was a nonstop flight from New York City to Cincinnati on November 8, 1965. The aircraft was a Boeing 727, with 57 passengers, and 5 crew on board. The aircraft crashed on final approach to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport located in Hebron, Kentucky, United States. Only three passengers and one flight attendant survived the crash.
Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight 159 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from New York City to Los Angeles, California, with a stopover in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Kentucky, that crashed after an aborted takeoff from Cincinnati on November 6, 1967. The Boeing 707 attempted to abort takeoff when the copilot became concerned that the aircraft had collided with a disabled DC-9 on the runway. The aircraft overran the runway, struck an embankment and caught fire. One passenger died as a result of the accident.
Eastern Air Lines Flight 21, registration NC28394, was a Douglas DC-3 aircraft that crashed while preparing to land at Candler Field in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 26, 1941. Eight of the 16 on board were killed, including Maryland Congressman William D. Byron. Among the injured was Eastern Air Lines president and World War I hero Eddie Rickenbacker.
The 1955 Cincinnati mid-air collision occurred on January 12, 1955, when Trans World Airlines Flight 694 Martin 2-0-2 on takeoff from Boone County Airport collided in mid-air with a privately owned Douglas DC-3 that had entered the airport's control space without proper clearance. None of the occupants of either plane survived the collision.
On July 1, 1965 Continental Airlines Flight 12 overran the runway while attempting to land at Kansas City Municipal Airport. No one was killed or seriously injured, but the accident forced discussions about runway safety in Kansas City and resulted in construction of a new airport, Kansas City International Airport, which opened in 1972. The accident also led to widespread implementation of runway grooving, which improves braking in wet landing conditions.
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.
The 1994 St. Louis Airport collision occurred when TWA Flight 427, operated using a McDonnell Douglas MD-82, struck a Cessna 441 Conquest II during its take-off roll, killing both of its occupants. The incident took place on November 22, 1994, at St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL) in Bridgeton, Missouri.
American Airlines Flight 910, a four-engine Douglas DC-6 propliner, collided in mid-air with a single engine Temco Swift on final approach to Dallas Love Field on June 28, 1952, over Dallas, Texas. The DC-6 was carrying 55 passengers and 5 crew members from San Francisco, California. The DC-6 landed with no injuries to any of its 60 occupants, while both occupants of the two-person Swift died when their aircraft impacted the ground.
On May 30, 1972, Delta Air Lines Flight 9570 crashed while attempting to land at the Greater Southwest International Airport (GSW) in Fort Worth, Texas during a training flight. All four occupants aboard the training flight were killed. The crash was determined to be caused by the aircraft flying through wake turbulence, and led to sweeping changes in procedures for maintaining minimum safe distance behind aircraft that generate substantial wake turbulence.
Alaska Airlines Flight 779 was a contract cargo flight operated on 21 July 1961 by an Alaska Airlines Douglas DC-6A that crashed short of the runway at Shemya Air Force Base with the loss of all six crew members on board.
Ozark Air Lines Flight 965 was a scheduled commercial flight from Chicago, Illinois, to Lambert Field in St. Louis, Missouri, with a scheduled intermediate stopover at Greater Peoria Regional Airport in Peoria, Illinois. On March 27, 1968, the Douglas DC-9-15 jetliner operating the flight, carrying 44 passengers and five crew, collided in mid-air with a single-engined Cessna 150F while both aircraft were on approach to the same runway at Lambert Field. The DC-9 landed safely with no injuries to any of its 49 occupants, while both pilots in the two-person Cessna died in the collision and subsequent ground impact.