On the afternoon of Sept. 9, 1969, Allegheny Airlines flight 853 was over Shelby County beginning its descent into Indianapolis. A passenger and a crew member were killed while 23 other occupants were injured, some of them seriously. You cant see down through this stuff., I can see the water, said Eastridge. "Of some 13 potential causes examined by the Board, three remain after final analysis. [6] Allegheny then added other jets, notably the McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 which the company named the "Vistajet". But in 1971, this sort of strict hierarchical language was quite common, and the idea of a first officer taking control from a captain who was not incapacitated would have been ridiculed in most corners of the industry. When asked whether he had considered taking control of the plane and executing a go-around, he acknowledged, There was a thought in my mind. However, he feared that if he attempted to grab the controls, Captain Eastridge would fight back. UPDATE: Important audio and video files have been made available by the Grover Museum in Shelbyville. One man's quest to memorialize the victims of the worst airline disaster in Lycoming County history, the crash of Allegheny Airlines Flight 371 on Bald Eagle Mountain, is coming to an end. First Officer Walker didnt like his captains decision. For emergency workers at the Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 crash on Dec. 24, 1968, it was a long, cold, night of exhaustion. crash site. As deregulation dawned, Allegheny, looking to shed its regional image, changed its name to USAir on October 28, 1979.[9]. John Satterwhite had been visiting his parents with his wife and child from their home in Pittsburgh and became concerned when he heard his 68-year-old father had traveled to the crash site. Debbie Mooney's Visit to the Crash Site. It does not include destinations served before that year. After retiring earlier aircraft, Allegheny, before and after its mergers, mainly flew De Havilland Canada Dash 8s to 35 airports in the northeastern United States, and eventually Canada, from hubs at Boston and Philadelphia. After descending to a scarily low altitude, the pilots caught sight of several landmarks and managed to navigate to the runway, landing successfully at about 9:23, one hour behind schedule. Everyone completing the survey will be able to enter a contest to Win as our way of saying, "Thank You" for your time. Crash of a Nord 262A-36 in Clarksburg: 2 killed, Crash of a Douglas DC-9-31 in Philadelphia, Crash of a Convair CV-580 in New Haven: 28 killed, Crash of a Douglas DC-9-31 in Fairland: 82 killed, Crash of a Convair CV-580 in Bradford: 11 killed, Crash of a Convair CV-580 in Bradford: 20 killed, Crash of a Convair CV-440 Metropolitan in Harrisburg, Crash of a Convair CV-440 Metropolitan in Williamsport. King was so grateful for the help of the doctor and others that she sent them a plaque which is now displayed at Bradford Regional Airport. The Lake Central Airlines merger in July 1968 added Chicago and St Louis, and the Mohawk Airlines merger in April 1972 added Montreal, Minneapolis and many New York cities. When asked if he was upset from the gruesome task at hand, Brown replied, I didnt have time to be disturbed. The aircraft crashed during daylight hours at an elevation of 1,203 ft ms1. On February 12, 1979, Allegheny Airlines Flight 561 (N29824) had originally departed Benedum Airport, Clarksburg, West Virginia, for Morgantown, West Virginia, at 1116, but the pilot decided not to make an approach at Morgantown because the instrument landing system's (ILS) glide slope was out of service, and the visibility was 1/2 mi. All right, Eastridge replied, but he made no effort to rein in their descent. Allegheny cancelled 124 out of 1,409 scheduled flight segments in the first week after the new visibility rules were adopted.[6]. This new flight plan also allowed him to fly a more direct route to New London, saving even more fuel. The flight, regularly scheduled from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Newark, New Jersey, with intermediate stops at Dubois, Phillipsburg, Williamsport and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, departed Runway 09 at 1503. e.d.t. Although the Safety Board could not determine the precise time of deicing, the persons involved stated that it was performed between 1220 and 1235. The 50th anniversary of the Allegheny Airlines Convair 580 passenger plane crash that killed 20 of the 47 passengers bound for Bradford Regional Airport has prompted a survivor and a few area residents, including Bradford Publishing Company publisher, John Satterwhite, to share memories that havent faded over the past half-century. The captain's lack of awareness of airspeed, vertical speed, and aircraft performance throughout an ILS approach and landing in visual meteorological conditions which resulted in his landing the aircraft at an excessively high speed and with insufficient runway remaining for stopping the aircraft, but with sufficient aircraft performance capability to reject the landing well after touchdown. The Convair clipped treetops 4,7nm short of the airport and cut a swath through trees bordering a fairway of the Pine Acres Golf Course. The survey is at: www.pulsepoll.com Chaos followed within seconds of the crash. In a speech Konwinski wrote several years ago, he said, "It was a mass casualty situation, the likes of which Bradford never experienced before. Flight International. Allegheny Airlines Flight 371 (N174A) Toggle Navigation. The wreckage came to rest about 6,000 feet beyond the threshold and about 350 feet to the right of the centerline of runway 27R. However, flight 485 was so far behind schedule that the chances of either pilot getting this bonus were zero, meaning that the NTSB could not link the incentive structure to the captains actions on this particular flight. Here investigators again pointed the finger at Allegheny Airlines. The aircraft had accumulated a total of 27,285 flight hours at the time of the accident. Contributing factors were the minimal visual references available at night on the approaches to the Bradford Regional Airport; a small but critical navigational error during the later stages of the approach; and a rapid change in visibility conditions that was not known to the crew. An emergency worker who remembered the Christmas Eve accident in 1968 was Dick Brown of Cyclone. The airline no doubt saved a lot of money by cutting the number of flight attendants, but in this case it proved disastrous. The deficiencies in the collision avoidance capability of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system of the Federal Aviation Administration in a terminal area wherein there was mixed Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and Visual Flight Rules (VFR) traffic. 8 April 1960. This fact alone should be enough to cause any pilot to take an interest in the facts of the case. It collided midair with a Piper PA-28, killing over 80 people. "[1], Less than two weeks before flight 737 crashed, Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 also went down on approach to Bradford Airport on the same Detroit-Washington DC route via Erie, Bradford and Harrisburg. On the flight deck were 33-year-old Captain William I. Banton Jr. and 31-year-old First Officer Ronald Lesiak. Allegheny's 'Martin Executive' Model 202. He also stated that he saw no snow blow off the aircraft during its takeoff roll. Allegheny Airlines Country United States of America Operator Image Crash of a Nord 262A-36 in Clarksburg: 2 killed Date & Time: Feb 12, 1979 at 1300 LT Type of aircraft: Nord 262 Operator: Registration: N29824 Flight Phase: Takeoff (climb) Flight Type: Scheduled Revenue Flight Survivors: Yes Site: Airport (less than 10 km from airport) Schedule: Allegheny Airlines was a regional airline that operated out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1952 to 1979 with routes primarily located in the eastern U.S. [1] It was the forerunner of USAir that was subsequently renamed US Airways, which itself merged with American Airlines. Local residents were merely thankful that the demolished beach cottages were unoccupied at the time, doubtlessly sparing more people from death or injury. The reverse thrust system failed to work so the aircraft was unable to stop within the remaining distance and overran. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the captain's decision to take off with snow on the aircraft's wing and empennage surfaces which resulted in a loss of lateral control and a loss of lift as the aircraft ascended out of ground effect. Of the 106 persons onboard, 86 persons were injured; there were no fatalities. Today, the crash of Allegheny Airlines flight 485 appears ever more starkly to be a product of its time. High 48F. For survivors who included young Kristen King, it was a long, cold night of thankfulness. They got (the survivors) out of the front there was an area part way back in the plane that was jammed and they could not get back in there. I had to call the chief of his residency medical program, who was flown in to perform eye surgery on him, Konwinski recalled. He lost sight of the aircraft when it was at an altitude of about 20 ft above the runway. However, the late 1950's and early 1960's would prove to be a bad time in terms of crashes. http://www.allegheny853.net/ One which particularly stood out was the airlines policy of paying pilots extra for completing flights ahead of schedule. John Satterwhite said he traveled to the area with his friend and ended up on a snowmobile trying to locate his father. Sicher said he reconnected with King during the 40th anniversary of the event and the two have stayed in touch ever since. East Haven, Connecticut - June 7, 1971. The NTSB found several intriguing aspects of Allegheny Airlines company policy which may have encouraged his risky decisions. According to the contract between Allegheny Airlines and the Air Line Pilots Association, the difference between the expected flight time and the actual flight time would be added to a bank which would then pay out at the end of the month, depending on various factors. However, Captain Eastridge decided to descend below the MDA in order to catch sight of the ground and navigate visually to the runway, as he had done at New London. kdsager@bradfordera.com. Ah yeah, I can see the water. The Allegheny Airlines plane came crashing down into a field, killing everyone on board. Allegheny also briefly operated Douglas DC-9-10 aircraft. He watched the aircraft through binoculars and saw nothing abnormal as the takeoff roll began. (WTHR) - Monday marks 50 years since a horrific plane crash in Shelby County. The aircraft's encounter with severe horizontal and vertical wind shears near the ground as a result of the captain's continued approach into a clearly marginal severe weather condition. There were 20 fatalities among the 47 persons on board the aircraft. He thought the aircraft was rotated about 1,900 ft down the runway and the liftoff appeared to him to be normal. With 28 people dead and just three lucky survivors, the crash was (and still is) the worst in Connecticut history. Allegheny Airlines timetable Dec 15, 1969, Allegheny Airlines Timetable April 27, 1969, Allegheny Airlines Timetable April 26, 1970, Allegheny Commuter Timetable Sept. 5, 1979, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton International Airport, BaltimoreWashington International Airport, Greater Buffalo-Niagara Falls International Airport, Lawrenceville-Vincennes International Airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, List of defunct airlines of the United States, "Allegheny Airlines April 1, 1979 Route Map", Lower Swatara township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, http://www.airliners.net/photo/US-Airways-(Allegheny/Airbus-A319-112/1836137/&sid=bbaeef5445291b137cf003cdf0f4c51e, "N745VJ | Airbus A319-112 | American Airlines | Roberto Balboa", "ASN Aircraft accident Martin 2-0-2 N172A Wilmington-Newcastle County Airport, DE (ILG)", "ASN Aircraft accident Martin 2-0-2 N174A Williamsport-Lycoming County Airport, PA (IPT)", "ASN Aircraft accident Martin 2-0-2 N177A Newark International Airport, NJ (EWR)", "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-440 N3414 Harrisburg Airport, PA (HAR)", "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-580 N5802 Bradford Airport, PA (BFD)", "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-580 N5825 Bradford Airport, PA (BFD)", "NTSB Report Allegheny Airlines, Inc., Allison Prop Jet Convair 340/440, N5832, New Haven, Connecticut, June 7, 1971", "NTSB Report AAR-78-2 Allegheny Airlines, Inc., Douglas DC-9, N994VJ, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1976", Association of Professional Flight Attendants, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Allegheny_Airlines&oldid=1151320480, Defunct regional airlines of the United States, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing potentially dated statements from March 2019, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2015, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, On November 14, 1955, an Allegheny Airlines, On October 19, 1962, an Allegheny Airlines, On November 2, 1963, an Allegheny Airlines Martin 2-0-2 was damaged beyond repair under unknown circumstances while taxiing at, On November 29, 1966, Allegheny Airlines Flight 305, operated by a Convair 440, suffered a complete electrical failure on takeoff from, On June 23, 1976, Allegheny Airlines Flight 121, a DC-9, crashed on the runway due to windshear at, On July 9, 1978, Allegheny Airlines Flight 453 crash-landed at, This page was last edited on 23 April 2023, at 08:31. Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 crash site (Google Maps). The aircraft One of these CV-580s would carry out Allegheny Airlines flight 485 on the 7th of June, 1971. According to Allegheny County police, the crash happened in the 700 block of Beulah Road at around 6:30 a.m. Indeed, on the second, third, and fourth approaches to New London, he descended way below the MDA, displaying a shocking disregard for published minima. Many nurses and other physicians were called in, too. But Captain Eastridge never acknowledged the rule, and he continued with his original time-saving plan, requesting a right turn at Pond Point and a straight-in approach to runway 2. UPDATE: Important audio and video files have been made available by the Grover Museum in Shelbyville. According to other witnesses, the ground roll appeared normal. The airline switched to General Motors/Allison turboprops in the Convair 580 which the carrier named the "Vistacruiser", the first CV580 flight was in June 1965. Thereafter the flight returned to Benedum Airport and landed at 1146. He asked the Cleveland Center controller if Flight 561 had established contact with him. All 83 occupants, 78 passengers and four crew members, aboard the DC-9 and the pilot of the PA-28 were fatally injured. One man's quest to memorialize the victims of the worst airline disaster in Lycoming County history, the crash of Allegheny Airlines Flight 371 on Bald Eagle Mountain, is coming to an end. SHELBY COUNTY, Ind. The crew aborted the takeoff maneuver, started an emergency braking procedure and triggered the reverse thrust system. The rules required visibility of 1,000 feet up and three miles out for any airport without instrument landing systems. Shane Collins has done research and, using GPS, located the spot where Flight 371 crashed into Bald Eagle Mountain, across the Susquehanna River from Montoursville. Allegheny flight AL853 was wider positive radar control of the Federal Aviation Administration's Indianapolis Approach Control, descending from 6,000 feet to an assigned altitude of 2,530 feet at the time of the collision. However, the NTSB concluded that not one of these causes could be exclusively accepted or rejected based on the available evidence. At 7:14 a.m. on June 7, 1971, Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 departed Washington D.C. bound for Trumbull Airport, (Today known as Groton-New London Airport) in Connecticut. Upon reaching 610 feet, they were still in clear air on top of the cloud layer, and it would have been evident that the runway was not there to be seen. The captain's intentional descent below the prescribed minimum descent altitude under adverse weather conditions without adequate forward visibility or the crew's sighting of the runway environment. During a non precision approach to New Haven-Tweed Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions with rain falls. We cut a hole in the side of the plane with an ax to get people out. I got [it] straight down.. Joe found me first he heard my muffled cries, King had shared. After Allegheny Airlines rebranded itself as USAir, the company retained its earlier name for its Allegheny Commuter service until 1989 when it became US Airways Express. The Christmas Eve departure from Detroit was delayed almost an hour by the late arrival of the airplane. Today we have created that world, but we have done so on the backs of men like James Walker and Gordon Eastridge, far too many of whom lost their lives before the lessons of their final moments were heeded. However, the pilots didnt have this updated weather information. After replacing much of its Short fleet with de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8s and retiring the F27s, Suburban merged with another wholly owned USAir subsidiary, Pennsylvania Airlines, which was headquartered at Harrisburg International Airport near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. On January 6, 1969, Allegheny Airlines Flight 737, a Convair 580, crashed on approach to Bradford, PA, killing 11 of the 28 people on board. The story of the crash would also feature a mounting series of poor decisions, taken under pressure to complete a flight in bad weather, along with a series of detrimental company policies which contributed to both the accident and the unnecessary deaths of 27 of the passengers and crew, who survived the initial impact only to perish in the inferno. An Allegheny Airlines DC-9 and a Forth Corporation Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee registered N7374J collided in flight approximately 4 miles northwest of Fairland, Indiana, at approximately 1529 e.d.t., September 9, 1969. But this proposal falls well short of modern crew resource management principles, which hold that all crewmembers can and should share their opinions or concerns at any time, not just when they think the plane is in danger.
