As investigators recover victims in the wreckage of an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter, which collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport last night, we turn to the Tribune’s archives.
Here’s a look back at commercial passenger plane crashes that stunned Chicago.
May 31, 1936
A Transcontinental and Western airliner carrying 15 people — 12 passengers and three crew members — hit a tree and house at 6045 S. Kilbourn Ave. but managed to land in an empty lot near Chicago Municipal Airport (now Midway). All 15 survived.
“Why, the plane is almost an exact fit for that lot,” an observer told the Tribune. “A lot of terrible things could have happened and didn’t.”
Dec. 4, 1940
A United Airlines DC-3 laden with ice on its windshield and wings stalled and crashed into a house at 6350 S. Keating Ave. on its second landing attempt at now Midway, killing 10. It’s believed to be the first commercial airplane crash in the city.
The crash caused the Civil Aeronautics Board to recommend that stall-warning devices be installed on airplanes to let pilots know when they are going too slow to stay aloft and to urge research into ways to reduce icing.
March 10, 1948
A Delta Air Lines DC-4 crashed and burned on takeoff from Midway airport. A gust lock, intended to prevent wind damage to the tail’s control surfaces when the plane is on the ground, was suspected. Twelve of 13 people on board died.
“Witnesses at the airport said the huge plane took off into a north wind and had a clear field ahead,” the Tribune reported. “The first hint of trouble was the flare-up and explosion when the plane hit the earth.”
July 17, 1955
A Braniff Airways twin-engine Convair 340 trying to land at Midway Airport in fog struck a 15-foot-tall gas station sign at the northwest corner of the airport and crashed, killing 22 and injuring 21.
The crash was one of several accidents that prompted the city and federal governments to restrict obstructions and the height of buildings near airports.
Aug. 5, 1955
Capt. George A. Stone, the pilot of a Stratocruiser, was credited when all 68 people survived a crash landing in the same area as the Braniff accident.
“Stone told officials of Northwest Orient Airlines that the propellers of the plane failed to reverse as he made a normal landing after a flight from Minneapolis,” the Tribune reported.
Sept. 1, 1961
A loose bolt caused one-third of the tail section of a TWA Constellation plane to fall away minutes after takeoff from Midway airport and crash into a farm field near west suburban Clarendon Hills. All 78 people aboard died.
Sept. 17, 1961
An improperly installed device to boost power to the wing ailerons that control flight caused a Northwest Orient Airlines Electra to crash after takeoff from O’Hare International Airport. The plane, bound for Florida, rolled to the right then descended, first striking a 34,000-volt power line, then a railroad embankment.
“Turning in … no control,” were the last distinguishable words from the cockpit, the Tribune reported.
All 37 people aboard died.
Aug. 16, 1965
A United Airlines 727 descending at night to land at O’Hare flew into Lake Michigan about 20 miles east of Lake Forest. Because of an instrument error, the plane apparently descended through its assigned altitude of 6,000 feet with the crew thinking it was at 16,000 feet. All 30 people aboard died.
Dec. 27, 1968
Buffeted by wingtip turbulence from a jet that had just taken off, a North Central Airlines Convair 580 lost control while taking off and hit a hangar at O’Hare. Twenty-eight died and 27 others were injured, including several people on the ground.
This crash and others prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to require a greater interval between jet aircraft on takeoff and landing.
Dec. 8, 1972
Forty-five people died when a United jet crashed into bungalows on West 70th Place while approaching Midway airport for landing. Eighteen aboard the plane survive.
The crash resulted in some bizarre theories about sabotage after it was discovered that the wife of Watergate conspirator Howard Hunt was one of the victims and she was carrying $10,000 in cash in a briefcase.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found no evidence of foul play and blamed the crash on errors by the pilot, who failed to retract the plane’s spoilers, or air brakes, at the critical stage of the descent, causing the plane to stall and crash 1.5 miles short of the runway.
Dec. 20, 1972
Two planes collided on a fog-shrouded runway at O’Hare, killing 10 of the 138 aboard. All the victims initially survived the collision, but some were overcome by fumes from the burning North Central Airlines DC-9 jet.
Poor communications between controllers and the crew of the Delta Air Lines Convair 880, which caused the Delta plane to taxi across a runway being used by the North Central plane for a takeoff, were cited. The ensuing fire caused federal officials to recommend the use of less toxic materials and better lights in airline cabins.
May 25, 1979
At the start of Memorial Day weekend, an American Airlines DC-10 bound for Los Angeles crashed just 31 seconds after takeoff from O’Hare airport. It’s still the deadliest passenger airline accident on U.S. soil — 271 people aboard the plane and two more on the ground died.
A passenger manifest has never been released by the airline, but Bill and Corrinne Borchers were two of the victims. Today, their children Kim Borchers Jockl and her siblings Melody and Jim have worked to connect friends and family of the victims. They started a Facebook group and published a book about their experiences called “Safe Landing: A family’s journey following the crash of American Airlines Flight 191.”
A memorial to the victims was dedicated in 2011 at Lake Park in Des Plaines, less than 2 miles east of the crash site.
Oct. 31, 1994
An American Eagle ATR 72 crashed in an Indiana field 60 miles southeast of Chicago after dealing with freezing rain while in a holding pattern for O’Hare. All 68 people aboard were killed.
The preliminary investigation indicated the crew lost control after ice built up on the wing behind the de-icing devices.
The accident caused the temporary withdrawal of that type of aircraft from service in northern climates until the wing icing problem could be solved.
Dec. 8, 2005
A Southwest Airlines plane landing in a snowstorm skidded off the runway at Midway airport, smashed into cars on Central Avenue and killed a 6-year-old boy in a car.
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