National Airlines Flight 101

1952 aviation accident

National Airlines Flight 101
Accident
A National Airlines DC-6 similar to the accident aircraft
Date	February 11, 1952 (1952-02-11)
Summary	Crashed shortly after take-off due to propeller failure; pilot error
Site	Elizabeth, New Jersey, United States 40°40′46″N 74°13′05″W / 40.679369°N 74.218083°W / 40.679369; -74.218083
Total fatalities	33
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-6
Operator	National Airlines
Registration	N90891
Flight origin	Newark Airport, New Jersey
Destination	Miami, Florida
Occupants	63
Passengers	59
Crew	4
Fatalities	29
Injuries	34
Survivors	34
Ground casualties
Ground fatalities	4

National Airlines Flight 101 was a scheduled flight from Newark Airport, New Jersey, to Miami, Florida, that on February 11, 1952 crashed in the town of Elizabeth, New Jersey, shortly after take-off. It was the third plane crash occurring in Elizabeth in less than two months, following the loss of a Miami Airlines C-46 in December and the crash of an American Airlines Convair 240, three weeks earlier.

Crash

The aircraft, a four-engined, propeller-driven Douglas DC-6, had departed from Newark Airport's runway 24 at 00:18 EST and was observed by personnel in the control tower suddenly losing altitude, while veering to the right. Two minutes later, the plane clipped an apartment building in Elizabeth, setting it on fire; it then crashed to the ground and burst into flames, narrowly missing an orphanage.

Of the 63 people on board (59 passengers and 4 crew members), 29 perished, while all of the survivors were injured, many seriously. Four residents in the apartment building were also killed. Among the passengers was actress Mildred Joanne Smith, who suffered severe injuries, including a broken back.

Investigation

The official investigation by the Civil Aeronautics Board concluded that a failure in the propeller's pitch control system of engine No. 3 caused the propeller to go into reverse during climb-out. The engine was left running at high power, while engine No. 4 was mistakenly feathered. Under such conditions, the aircraft was no longer able to maintain altitude and descended into the ground.

Aftermath

In the wake of this third accident in Elizabeth, mounting public concern led to a lengthy closure of Newark Airport and to a nationwide review of the safety of airport operations. The airport reopened only nine months later, on November 15, 1952, after the investigations into the crashes determined that the airport facilities were not at fault.

The three crashes later provided the inspiration to writer and Elizabeth resident Judy Blume for her 2015 novel In the Unlikely Event.

References

"Douglas DC-6 N90891 Newark International Airport, NJ". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
^ Nyrop; Ryan; Adams; Gurney (May 16, 1952). National Airlines Inc, Elizabeth, New Jersey, February 11,1952. Civil Aeronautics Board. doi:10.21949/1500565. Retrieved August 11, 2015. (PDF)
"Crash From The Past". NJ Today. CMD Media. December 16, 2010. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
Hyman, Vicki (December 15, 2014). "Judy Blume's upcoming adult novel tackles real-life plane crashes in 1950s Elizabeth". NJ.com. Retrieved December 17, 2019.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1952 (1952)
Jan 19 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 324Jan 22 American Airlines Flight 6780Feb 11 National Airlines Flight 101Mar 3 Air France LanguedocMar 22 KLM Flight 592Apr 9 Japan Air Lines Flight 301Apr 11 Pan Am Flight 526AApr 29 Pan Am Flight 202Jun 10 Poznań Pe-2 crashJun 13 Catalina affairJun 28 American Airlines Flight 910Aug 12 TAN C-47 crashSep 6 Farnborough Airshow crashOct 7 Habomai Islands RB-29 shootdown incidentOct 26 BOAC Flight 115Nov 22 Mount Gannett C-124 crashNov 28 Tacoma C-54 crashDec 6 Cubana de Aviación Bermuda crashDec 20 Moses Lake C-124 crashDec 30 Luqa Avro Lancaster crash
1951 ◄ ► 1953

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1952 (1952)

Jan 19 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 324Jan 22 American Airlines Flight 6780Feb 11 National Airlines Flight 101Mar 3 Air France LanguedocMar 22 KLM Flight 592Apr 9 Japan Air Lines Flight 301Apr 11 Pan Am Flight 526AApr 29 Pan Am Flight 202Jun 10 Poznań Pe-2 crashJun 13 Catalina affairJun 28 American Airlines Flight 910Aug 12 TAN C-47 crashSep 6 Farnborough Airshow crashOct 7 Habomai Islands RB-29 shootdown incidentOct 26 BOAC Flight 115Nov 22 Mount Gannett C-124 crashNov 28 Tacoma C-54 crashDec 6 Cubana de Aviación Bermuda crashDec 20 Moses Lake C-124 crashDec 30 Luqa Avro Lancaster crash

1951 ◄ ► 1953

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1950s
1950	Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 307 (March 1950) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 (June 1950) Myrtle Beach USAF C-46D crash (July 1950) Fairfield-Suisun Boeing B-29 crash (August 1950)
1951	National Airlines Flight 83 (January 1951) Cubana de Aviación Flight 493 (April 1951) United Air Lines Flight 610 (June 1951) United Air Lines Flight 615 (August 1951) Miami Airlines C-46 crash (December 16 1951) Continental Charters Flight 44-2 (December 29 1951)
1952	American Airlines Flight 6780 (January 1952) National Airlines Flight 101 (February 1952) Pan Am Flight 526A (April 1952) American Airlines Flight 910 (June 1952) Mount Gannett C-124 crash (November 22 1952)* Tacoma C-54 crash (November 28 1952) Moses Lake C-124 crash (December 1952)
1953	National Airlines Flight 470 (February 1953) Transocean Air Lines Flight 942 (March 1953) Western Air Lines Flight 636 (April 1953) Delta Air Lines Flight 318 (May 1953) USMC R4Q NROTC crash (July 1953) American Airlines Flight 723 (September 1953) BCPA Flight 304 (October 1953)
1954	Western Air Lines Flight 34 (February 1954}
1955	Cincinnati mid-air collision (January 1955) TWA Flight 260 (February 1955) American Airlines Flight 711 (March 20 1955) Hawaii R6D-1 crash (March 22 1955)* Pan Am Flight 845/26 (March 26 1955) MacArthur Airport United Airlines crash (April 1955) American Airlines Flight 476 (August 1955) United Air Lines Flight 409 (October 1955) United Air Lines Flight 629 (November 1955)
1956	TWA Flight 400 (April 1 1956) Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2 (April 2 1956) Grand Canyon mid-air collision (June 1956) Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 304 (July 9 1956) United States Air Force Flight 441/13 (July 13 1956)
1957	American Airlines Flight 327 (January 6 1957) Pacoima mid-air collision (January 31 1957) Northeast Airlines Flight 823 (February 1957) Northeast Airlines Flight 285 (September 1957)
1958	Capital Airlines Flight 67 (April 1958) Capital Airlines Flight 300 (May 1958) Westover Air Force Base KC-135 crash (June 1958) Northeast Airlines Flight 258 (August 1958)
1959	Southeast Airlines Flight 308 (January 1959) The Day the Music Died (February 3 1959) American Airlines Flight 320 (February 3 1959) Capital Airlines Flight 75 (May 1959) American Airlines Flight 514 (August 1959) Braniff International Airways Flight 542 (September 1959) Piedmont Airlines Flight 349 (October 1959) National Airlines Flight 967 (November 1959) Allegheny Airlines Flight 371 (December 1 1959) San Diego F3H crash (December 4 1959)
This list is incomplete. An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that took place in a U.S. territory, including Alaska and Hawaii prior to statehood. 1940–1949 ◄ 1950–1959 ► 1960–1969

National Airlines (1934–1980)

History

Accidents & incidents	Flight 16 (1945) Flight 83 (1951) Flight 101 (1952) Flight 470 (1953) Flight 967 (1959) Flight 2511 (1960) Flight 27 (1973) Flight 193 (1978)