Misplaced Pages

American Airlines Flight 63 (July 1943)

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from American Airlines Flight 63 (Flagship Ohio))
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources.
Find sources: "American Airlines Flight 63" July 1943 – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2024)
1943 aviation accident

For other incidents on board flights designated American Airlines Flight 63, see American Airlines Flight 63 (disambiguation).
American Airlines Flight 63
Accident
DateJuly 28, 1943
SummaryLoss of control due to severe turbulence and violent downdrafts
SiteAllen County, 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) west of Trammel, Kentucky
36°47′8.22″N 86°22′16.65″W / 36.7856167°N 86.3712917°W / 36.7856167; -86.3712917
Aircraft
Aircraft typeDouglas DC-3-178
Aircraft nameFlagship Ohio
OperatorAmerican Airlines
RegistrationNC16014
Flight originCleveland, Ohio
1st stopoverColumbus, Ohio
2nd stopoverDayton, Ohio
3rd stopoverCincinnati, Ohio
4th stopoverLouisville, Kentucky
Last stopoverNashville, Tennessee
DestinationMemphis, Tennessee
Occupants22
Passengers18
Crew4
Fatalities20
Survivors2

On July 28, 1943, American Airlines Flight 63 was flown by a Douglas DC-3, named Flagship Ohio, routing Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati-Louisville-Nashville-Memphis, that crashed on the Louisville-Nashville sector about 1.6 miles (2.6 km) west of Trammel, Kentucky. The aircraft descended from 200 feet (61 m) until it struck trees, then slid across an open field and stopped in an upright position. Of the 22 people on board, 20 died. The cause of the crash was loss of control due to severe turbulence and violent downdrafts.

Aircraft

Flagship Ohio was a Douglas DC-3 manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company and owned and operated by American Airlines. Since its first flight in 1936, the aircraft had logged 17,991 hours of flight time. At the time of the crash, it serviced a domestic scheduled passenger route with several stops in Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Crash

Flight 63 departed Cleveland at approximately 5:42 pm on July 28, 1943. The flight proceeded normally during its scheduled stops in Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, and Louisville. The aircraft arrived at its fourth stop, Louisville, at 9:42 pm. After refueling, the flight received clearance to depart at 9:54 pm. During the Louisville-Nashville leg, the Flagship Ohio was crewed by four American Airlines personnel, and carried eighteen passengers.

The aircraft's departure clearance specified an altitude of 2,500 feet (760 m) to Smiths Grove, Kentucky, and then at 2,000 feet (610 m) onward to Nashville. The projected arrival time was 10:54 pm — an hour's flight.

Thunderstorms around Smiths Grove caused extreme turbulence and strong downdrafts which forced the plane to lose altitude. The Smiths Grove area is characterized by hilly terrain with an elevation that ranges from 695 to 720 ft (212 to 219 m) above sea level. The plane clipped a clump of trees before skidding across an open field until it came to rest in an upright position in a copse of trees approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) away from its initial point of impact.

The Civil Aeronautics Board investigated the crash and determined that the extreme turbulence and conditions caused by the nearby thunderstorm created such severe flying conditions that the pilot was unable to maintain control of the aircraft.

Loss of control of the aircraft due to unusually severe turbulence and violent downdraft caused by a thunderstorm of unknown and unpredictable intensity.

— Civil Aeronautics Board, CAB File No. 325-43

All four crewmembers died in the crash. Of the eighteen passengers, only two survived.

After the loss of the Flagship Ohio, American Airlines replaced the aircraft on the Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati-Louisville-Nashville-Memphis route with sister DC-3 Flagship Missouri. Three months later, on October 15, 1943, Flagship Missouri crashed on the Nashville-Memphis leg of the flight.

See also

References

  1. ^ Accident description for American Airlines Flight 63 at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on May 24, 2009.

External links

American Airlines
Oneworld member
Mergers and
acquisitions
Facilities
Programs
Brands
Incidents
American
Airlines
American
Eagle
American
Connection
People
Organizations
Related
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1943 (1943)
Jan 21 Pan Am Flight 1104Apr 4 B-24D Lady Be GoodMay 19 RAF Hudson crashJun 1 BOAC Flight 777Jun 14 Bakers Creek air crashJul 4 Gibraltar Liberator AL523 crashJul 28 American Airlines Flight 63 (Ohio)Aug 2 Whenuapai Liberator crashOct 15 American Airlines Flight 63 (Missouri)Oct 20 Saint-Donat RCAF Liberator III crashNov 16 Rewan air crashDec 19 Canal Creek air crash
1942   ◄    ►   1944
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1940s
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
This list is incomplete.
An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that took place in a U.S. territory, including Alaska and Hawaii prior to statehood.
1930–1939 ◄ 1940–1949 ► 1950–1959
Categories:
Ad.

Before you begin

Get Life Coaching Tips
Or continue to this article
X