National Airlines Flight 470
.jpg) National DC-6 similar to the one involved | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 14, 1953 |
| Summary | Turbulence, in-flight breakup |
| Site | Gulf of Mexico, off Fort Morgan, Alabama |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-6 |
| Operator | National Airlines |
| Registration | N90893 |
| Flight origin | Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida |
| Stopover | Tampa International Airport, Tampa, Florida |
| Destination | Moisant Field, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Occupants | 46 |
| Passengers | 41 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 46 |
| Survivors | 0 |
National Airlines Flight 470 was a regularly scheduled flight between Tampa and New Orleans that crashed on February 14, 1953 after encountering severe turbulence. The crash marked the worst accident in the history of National Airlines, killing 46 (5 crew and 41 passengers), among them the widow of the cartoonist Billy DeBeck.
Events
The Douglas DC-6, registered N90893, crashed into the Gulf of Mexico 20 miles (32 km) off Mobile Point en route to New Orleans.[1] The USCGC Blackthorn assisted in search and recovery operations.[2][3][4][5] National Airlines did not maintain its own meteorology department, as was standard among airlines at the time, and its pilots were not informed of the strength of the storm into which they were flying.[6]
References
- ^ "15 Bodies Found After DC6 Plunges Into Gulf Waters". AP. February 16, 1953.
- ^ Civil Aeronautic Board Accident Report
- ^ Accident report of National Airlines Flight 470 at the Aviation Safety Network
- ^ "Plane With 45 Aboard Lost". AP. February 14, 1953.
- ^ "Lightning May Have Caused DC6 Crash". Big Spring, TX. The Big Spring Daily Herald. February 15, 1953.
- ^ "Stiles v. National Airlines". LEAGLE. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
 | This article about an aviation accident is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |