American Airlines Flight 6780 facts for kids
An American Airlines CV-240 similar to the accident aircraft
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | January 22, 1952 |
| Summary | CFIT on approach for reasons unknown |
| Place | Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States 40°39′28″N 74°12′52″W / 40.6579°N 74.2144°W |
| Passengers | 20 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 23 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Convair CV-240-0 |
| Aircraft name | Flagship Baltimore |
| Airline/user | American Airlines |
| Registration | N94229 |
| Flew from | Buffalo Municipal Airport |
| 1st stopover | Rochester Municipal Airport |
| Last stopover | Hancock Airport |
| Flying to | Newark International Airport |
American Airlines Flight 6780 was a passenger plane that crashed on January 22, 1952. This was the first time a Convair 240 aircraft was involved in a deadly accident.
The plane was flying from Buffalo to Newark, with stops in Rochester and Syracuse. As it was getting ready to land at Newark Airport, it crashed into a house. This happened at 3:45 p.m. in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The exact reason for the crash was never found.
The plane went about 2,100 feet (640 meters) off its planned path. It just barely missed hitting Battin High School, a school for girls. Luckily, school had ended only 45 minutes before the crash.
What Happened to the People?
Everyone on the plane died in the crash and the fire that followed. This included 20 passengers and 3 crew members, making a total of 23 people. Also, 7 people on the ground were killed.
The pilot, Captain Thomas J. Reid, lived only a few blocks from where the plane crashed. His wife heard the crash happen. She told reporters that they had been planning to move to a new house they were building.
One of the passengers was Robert P. Patterson. He was an important judge and had worked for the government as a top official in the War Department. He had served under presidents Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. Patterson was coming back from a meeting with Thomas J. Watson of IBM. He had changed his train ticket to fly on this plane because his business meeting in Buffalo finished earlier than he expected.
What Happened After the Crash?
This crash was the second of three plane accidents that happened in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in less than two months.
- On December 16, 1951, a Miami Airlines C-46 plane crashed into the Elizabeth River. All 56 people on board died.
- The third crash, National Airlines Flight 101, happened on February 11, 1952. In this accident, 29 of the 63 people on board died. The plane almost hit an orphanage.
After these three crashes, many people were very upset. The Port of New York Authority immediately closed Newark Airport. It stayed closed for nine months, reopening on November 15. The State of New York also passed a new rule. It said that planes should try to fly over water when approaching airports, if possible.
President Harry Truman started a special group to study how airports affect the areas around them. This group was led by Jimmy Doolittle. They suggested that cities should have rules about where buildings can be built near airports. They recommended that schools, hospitals, and other places where many people gather should not be built directly under flight paths.
These three plane crashes later inspired Judy Blume, a writer who lived in Elizabeth. She wrote a novel in 2015 called In the Unlikely Event, which was based on these events.
See also
In Spanish: Vuelo 6780 de American Airlines para niños
