TWA Flight 553

TWA Flight 553
Accident
Date	March 9, 1967
Summary	Mid-air collision
Site	Concord Township, Champaign County, near Urbana, Ohio ; 40°11′49″N 83°48′46″W / 40.19694°N 83.81278°W
Total fatalities	26
Total survivors	0
First aircraft
	; A DC-9-15 of Trans World Airlines similar to the aircraft involved
Type	McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15
Operator	Trans World Airlines
IATA flight No.	TW553
ICAO flight No.	TWA553
Call sign	TWA 553
Registration	N1063T
Flight origin	LaGuardia Airport, New York
1st stopover	Harrisburg-York State Airport, Pennsylvania
2nd stopover	Greater Pittsburgh Airport, Pennsylvania
Last stopover	Dayton Municipal Airport, Ohio
Destination	Chicago O'Hare International Airport, Illinois
Occupants	25
Passengers	21
Crew	4
Fatalities	25
Survivors	0
Second aircraft
	; A Beechcraft Baron 55 similar to the aircraft involved
Type	Beechcraft Baron 55
Operator	Private
Registration	N6127V
Occupants	1
Passengers	0
Crew	1
Fatalities	1
Survivors	0

Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight 553 was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-15 jet airliner, registration N1063T, operated by Trans World Airlines on March 9, 1967 between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Dayton, Ohio. While descending toward Dayton about 29 miles (25 nmi; 47 km) from the airport, the flight collided in midair with a Beechcraft Baron, a small, general-aviation airplane, near Urbana, Ohio. All 25 aboard the DC-9 and the sole occupant of the Beechcraft were killed.^[1]

Summary

Flight 553 departed from Greater Pittsburgh Airport en route to Dayton Municipal Airport. After passing Columbus, Ohio, Flight 553 had been cleared to descend from flight level (FL) 200 (about 20,000 feet (6,000 m) above sea level) to 3,000 feet (900 m). The flight was in uncontrolled airspace but under the control of Dayton radar approach, which advised the pilots of uncontrolled visual flight rules (VFR) traffic ahead and slightly to the right and one mile away, about 18 seconds before the collision. The crew acknowledged the traffic advisory. As the airliner descended through 4,500 feet (1,400 m) at a speed of 323 knots on a southwest heading, its front right side collided with the left side of a southbound Beechcraft Baron 55.^[2] Both aircraft fell in Concord Township, a rural area northwest of Urbana in Champaign County. The collision occurred just northeast of the intersection of Melody Lane and Woodville Pike.^[1]

Cause

Visual flight rules (VFR) were in effect at the time of the accident, meaning that the pilots of both aircraft were responsible to "see and avoid" each other. In addition, the radar controller stated that he did not see the Beechcraft on his radar scope until 22 seconds before the crash. Controllers testified that the zone near the crash site was one in which small planes could be difficult to detect on radar, but flight checks in the area proved inconclusive.^[1]

The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the accident and determined that because of the DC-9's high rate of descent, its pilots were not able to see the other plane in time to avoid a collision. Weather conditions included widely scattered, thin clouds, with haze reducing visibility to six to seven miles (10 to 11 km), twice the three-mile (5 km) visibility required for VFR flight.^[1]

Aftermath

Enacted in 1961 in the wake of the 1960 New York mid-air collision, FAR Part 91.85 mandated speed restrictions below 10,000 feet (3,000 m) within 30 nautical miles of a destination airport. After the accident involving Flight 553, all areas below 10,000 feet (3,000 m) were prohibited from exceeding 250 knots (290 mph; 460 km/h) IAS. The accident also influenced the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to create terminal control areas or TCAs (now called Class B airspace) around the busiest airports in the country. The airspace around Dayton did not become a TCA, undergoing only minor changes until it was reclassified as Class C airspace in the late 1980s.

References

1 2 3 4 "Aircraft Accident Report. Trans World Airlines Inc., Douglas DC-9, Tann Company Beechcraft Baron B-55 In-flight Collision Near Urbana, Ohio, March 9, 1967" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. June 19, 1968. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
↑ Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-9-15 N1063T Urbana, OH". aviation-safety.net. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2019.

External links

Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
Airliners.net Flight 553 preparing for departure in a photo by Bob Garrard, 1967
National Transportation Safety Board Report AAR68 on the crash

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[:0-1] 1 2 3 4 "Aircraft Accident Report. Trans World Airlines Inc., Douglas DC-9, Tann Company Beechcraft Baron B-55 In-flight Collision Near Urbana, Ohio, March 9, 1967" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. June 19, 1968. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 4, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2019.

[2] Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-9-15 N1063T Urbana, OH". aviation-safety.net. Archived from the original on April 26, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2019.

[1]

[2]

Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1960s
1960	National Airlines Flight 2511 Capital Airlines Flight 20 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710 Chicago Helicopter Airways Flight 698 World Airways Flight 830 Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 Cal Poly football team New York mid-air collision
1961	Goldsboro B-52 American Airlines Flight 1502 Yuba City B-52 United Air Lines Flight 859 Alaska Airlines Flight 779 TWA Flight 529 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4
1962	American Airlines Flight 1 Continental Airlines Flight 11 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 United Air Lines Flight 297 Eastern Air Lines Flight 512
1963	Elephant Mountain B-52 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 Camden PA-24 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112 Pan Am Flight 214
1964	Savage Mountain B-52 Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 Paradise Airlines Flight 901A Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 United Air Lines Flight 823 Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114 Flying Tiger Line Flight 282
1965	USAF KC-135 Wichita Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 Pan Am Flight 843 Continental Airlines Flight 12 Allegheny Airlines Flight 604 United Air Lines Flight 389 American Airlines Flight 383 United Air Lines Flight 227 Carmel mid-air (Eastern 853, TWA 42)
1966	NASA T-38 American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D Braniff International Airways Flight 250 West Coast Airlines Flight 956
1967	Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 TWA Flight 553 West Coast Airlines Flight 720 Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 TWA Flight 159 X-15 Flight 3-65-97 TWA Flight 128
1968	Ozark Air Lines Flight 965 Braniff International Airways Flight 352 Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 Northeast Airlines Flight 946 Japan Air Lines Flight 2 Pan Am Flight 281 Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 Pan Am Flight 799 North Central Airlines Flight 458 Ozark Air Lines Flight 982
1969	Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 United Air Lines Flight 266 Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 Prinair Flight 277 Delta Air Lines Flight 821 TWA Flight 5787 Newton Cessna 172 crash Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 Mohawk Airlines Flight 411
This list is incomplete.