ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-54-DO (DC-4) NC88842 Charles Town, WV
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Friday 13 June 1947
Time:18:16
Type:Silhouette image of generic DC4 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Douglas C-54-DO (DC-4)
Operator:Pennsylvania-Central Airlines
Registration: NC88842
MSN: 3112
First flight: 1942
Total airframe hrs:8038
Engines: 4 Pratt & Whitney R-2000-7
Crew:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 47 / Occupants: 47
Total:Fatalities: 50 / Occupants: 50
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:13 km (8.1 mls) SE of Charles Town, WV (   United States of America)
Crash site elevation: 434 m (1424 feet) amsl
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Pittsburgh (unknown airport), PA, United States of America
Destination airport:Washington-National Airport, DC (DCA/KDCA), United States of America
Flightnumber: 410
Narrative:
Flight 410 departed Chicago, at 13:52 on an instrument flight plan with destination Norfolk and with stops scheduled at Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Washington. The flight departed Pittsburgh at 17:24 proceeded to Washington at 7,000 feet. At 18:03 the plane started its descent into Washington. While descending, the plane struck a ridge named Lookout Rock in the Blue Ridge Mountains at an elevation of approximately 1,425 feet

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Board finds that the probable cause of this accident was the action of the pilot in descending below the minimum en route altitude under conditions of weather which prevented adequate visual reference to the ground. A contributing cause was the faulty clearance given by Airway Traffic Control, tacitly approved by the company dispatcher, and accepted by Flight 410."

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: CAB
Status: Investigation completed
Accident number: final report
Download report: Final report

Classification:
Language/communication problems
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Mountain

Sources:
» CAB File No. 1-0066-47


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This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Douglas DC-4

  • 1242 built
  • 72nd loss
  • 37th fatal accident
  • 3rd worst accident (at the time)
  • 19th worst accident (currently)
» safety profile

 United States of America
  • 2nd worst accident (at the time)
  • 57th worst accident (currently)
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