Eastern Air Lines Flight 212
 |
|
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 11, 1974 |
| Summary | Pilot error, Controlled flight into terrain |
| Site |
Charlotte, North Carolina, United States 35°09′14″N 80°55′34″W / 35.15389°N 80.92611°W |
| Passengers | 78 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 72 (69 initially, 3 died later) |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 10 |
| Survivors | 10 (13 initially, 3 died later) |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-9-31 |
| Operator | Eastern Air Lines |
| Registration | N8984E |
Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 was an Eastern Air Lines Douglas DC-9-31, carrying 78 passengers and four crew, operating as a scheduled flight within the United States from Charleston, South Carolina to Chicago, Illinois, with an intermediate stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. On the morning of September 11, 1974, while conducting an instrument approach in dense ground fog into Douglas Municipal Airport (now called Charlotte/Douglas International Airport), Charlotte, North Carolina, the aircraft crashed just short of the runway, killing 72 on board. Thirteen people survived the initial impact, including the co-pilot and one flight attendant. However, three more ultimately died from severe burn injuries. One of the initial survivors died of injuries 29 days after the accident. Among those who died were: the vice president for academic affairs of the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. James William Colbert, Jr. (the father of future American comedian Stephen Colbert) and two of his sons; Navy Rear Admiral Charles W. Cummings, acting commandant of the 6th Naval District; three employees of Charleston newspaper The Post and Courier (production manager Lewis Weston, circulation manager Charles McDonald, and mail room supervisor Jack Sanders); television anchorman Wayne Seal of WCIV in Sullivan's Island, South Carolina; and John Merriman, news editor for the CBS Evening News.
The accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which released its final report on May 23, 1975. The NTSB concluded that the accident was caused by the flight crew's lack of altitude awareness and poor cockpit discipline.
...
Wikipedia