American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D
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_JP6984497.jpg) An American Flyers L-188, similar to the one involved at Lindbergh Field in 1963. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | April 22, 1966 |
| Summary | Pilot incapacitation |
| Site | 2.4 km northeast of Ardmore Municipal Airport, United States 34°19′46″N 96°58′55″W / 34.3294°N 96.9819°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Lockheed L-188C Electra |
| Operator | American Flyers Airline |
| Registration | N183H[1] |
| Flight origin | Monterey Regional Airport |
| Stopover | Ardmore Municipal Airport |
| Destination | Columbus Airport |
| Occupants | 98 |
| Passengers | 93 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 83 |
| Injuries | 15 |
| Survivors | 15 |
American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D was a flight operated on a U.S. Military Air Command contract from Monterey Regional Airport in California to Columbus Airport in Georgia, via Ardmore Municipal Airport, Oklahoma. On April 22, 1966, while approaching Runway 8 at Ardmore, the aircraft overshot the runway and crashed into a hill, bursting into flames.[2] Eighty-three of the 98 passengers and crew on board died as a result of the accident.[3]
Aircraft
[edit]The aircraft was a Lockheed L-188 Electra four-engined turboprop airline registered as N183H.[4] It had first flown in January 1961 and was bought by American Flyers Airline in January 1963.[5] It is the same plane that carried the Beatles from city to city in 1964 during their second tour of the U.S.[6]
Investigation
[edit]The U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) investigated the accident.[1]: 1 [7]
Investigators found no evidence of mechanical failure or defect related to the accident, although the flight data recorder had suffered a mechanical failure unrelated to the accident and may not have been properly checked by the flight engineer before the flight; it had produced no recording for the flight.[8] The airplane did not have (and was not required to have) a cockpit voice recorder.[1]
Some days after the crash, it was learned that the pilot, Reed Pigman, who also happened to be the president of American Flyers, was under care for arteriosclerosis.[9] An autopsy of Pigman determined his cause of death to either be multiple injuries or coronary artery sclerosis.[10]
It was also determined that Reed Pigman had falsified his application for a first-class medical certificate. He had not disclosed that he was diabetic or that he had a history of heart issues dating back almost two decades; either of these would have been disqualifying factors for the certificate.[11]
On March 28, 1967, the CAB published its final report. The CAB determined that the probable cause for the accident was:
[T]he incapacitation, due to a coronary insufficiency, of the pilot-in-command at a critical point during visual, circling approach being conducted under instrument flight conditions.[1]: 1
See also
[edit]References
[edit]
- ^ a b c d "Aircraft Accident Report, American Flyers Airline Corporation L-188C, N183H, Near Ardmore Municipal Airport, Ardmore, Oklahoma, April 22, 1966" (PDF). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 28, 1967. Retrieved February 4, 2020.[dead link]
- ^ "Investigators Seek Cause of Air Crash Fatal to 81". Eugene Register-Guard. No. 102 (City ed.). Eugene, Oregon. Associated Press. 23 April 1966. p. 1A. Retrieved 23 November 2020 – via Google News.
The plane was on a cross-country flight from Fort Ord, Calif., to Fort Benning, Ga., and its 92 passengers were Army recruits who had recently completed basic training.
- ^ "Crash of a Lockheed L-188C Electra in Ardmore: 83 killed". www.baaa-acro.com. Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- ^ "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-188C Electra N183H Ardmore Municipal Airport, OK (ADM)". Aviation-safety.net. 1966-04-22. Retrieved 2012-12-22.
- ^ Eastwood, Tony (1990). Turbo Prop Airliner Production List. The Aviation Hobby Shop. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-907178-32-3.
- ^ "The Beatles and a man named Pigman".
- ^ Johns, Paul (2014-01-14). "The Beatles and a man named Pigman". MarshfieldMail.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
- ^ ICAO Circular 96-AN/79
- ^ "Pilot involved in fatal crash had ailment." United Press International at The Times-News (Hendersonville, North Carolina). Saturday May 14, 1966. Volume 91, No. 115. Page 1. Retrieved from Google Books (1 of 6) on December 22, 2012.
- ^ "Autopsy rates heart ailment as advanced." United Press International at The Altus Times-Democrat. Thursday May 26, 1966. Volume 40, No. 101. Page 1. Retrieved from Google Books (1 of 14) on December 22, 2012.
- ^ Gero, David (1996). Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 70.