On August 31, 1940, a Pennsylvania Central Airlines DC-3A crashed near Lovettsville VA.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Wed Sep 4, 2024, 08:12 AM - Edit history (6)

Edited at 5:22 p.m., as callous taoboy pointed out who one of the passengers was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_31

• 1940 – Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashes near Lovettsville, Virginia. The CAB investigation of the accident is the first investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938.

Lovettsville air disaster

Coordinates: 39°16'24"N 77°41'05"W

Accident
Date: August 31, 1940
Summary: Lightning strike (probable)
Site: Near Short Hill Mountain, Lovettsville, Virginia
39°16'24"N 77°41'05"W
Aircraft type: Douglas DC-3
Operator: Pennsylvania Central Airlines
Registration: NC21789
Flight origin: Washington, D.C.
Stopover: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Destination: Detroit, Michigan
Passengers: 21
Crew: 4
Fatalities: 25
Survivors: 0

On August 31, 1940, Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19, a new Douglas DC-3A, was flying from Washington, D.C. to Detroit with a stopover in Pittsburgh. While the aircraft was flying near Lovettsville, Virginia at 6,000 feet (1,800 m) and approaching the West Virginia border, Trip 19 encountered an intense thunderstorm. Numerous witnesses reported seeing a large flash of lightning shortly before it nosed over and plunged to earth in an alfalfa field. With limited accident investigation tools at the time, it was at first believed that the most likely cause was the plane flying into windshear, but the Civil Aeronautics Board report concluded that the probable cause was a lightning strike.[1] U.S. Senator Ernest Lundeen was among the 21 passengers and 4 crew members killed.[Also on board were "a Special Agent of the FBI, a second FBI employee, and a prosecutor from the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice." At the time of the crash, the FBI was investigating Sen. Lundeen's ties to George Sylvester Viereck, a top Nazi spy working in the US to spread pro-Hitler and anti-Semitic propaganda.

The crash occurred during a severe rainstorm, and recovery efforts were hindered by impassable flooded roads and poor communications: the crash cut the only telephone lines in the area. Wreckage was scattered over a broad area, and it is believed that all aircraft occupants died instantly on impact. At the time, the crash was the deadliest disaster in the history of U.S. commercial aviation.

"Trip 19", as it was designated, was under the command of Captain Lowell V. Scroggins with First Officer J. Paul Moore. The pilot and copilot had over eleven thousand and six thousand hours experience respectively, although only a few hundred of those hours were on DC-3s. The aircraft was carrying 21 revenue passengers, a single flight attendant, and a deadheading airline manager riding in the jump seat in the cockpit.[1]

The DC-3A was newly delivered from Douglas Aircraft on May 25, 1940, equipped with twin Curtiss-Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 engines (also designated as G-102-A).[1]

The CAB investigation of the accident was the first major investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938.[1]

{snip}

[1] Report of the Civil Aeronautics Board" (PDF). Civil Aeronautics Board. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2009-04-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20131020122846/http://www.baesel.net/capaccidents/1940.08.31_PennsylvaniaCentralAirlinesCorp_DouglasDC-3-A.pdf

{snip}

Pennsylvania Central Airlines later gave itself the nickname "The Capital Airline." In 1948, it made the moniker its official name, by renaming itself "Capital Airlines." Capital Airlines flew, inter alia, Constellations:

Capital Airlines

In 1948 Capital introduced the "Nighthawk", one of the first coach class services, to compete with the railroads between Chicago and New York City and the dominant airlines on the route, United, TWA and American. Each flight left at 1 AM and stopped for ten minutes at Pittsburgh (Allegheny County). Chicago-NY fare was $29.60 plus 15% federal tax; seats on all other flights cost $44.10 plus tax.

Also in 1948 the first airborne television was installed on a Capital airplane.


A Capital Airlines Vickers Viscount at Allentown,
Pennsylvania ABE Airport discharging passengers in 1960.

In 1950 Capital Airlines received their first Lockheed Constellations. In 1955 they became the first U.S. operator of the British manufactured, four engine Vickers Viscount, the first passenger turboprop airliner. The Viscount propjets were deployed on the flagship Washington-Chicago route and the airline had planned to fly them on expanded service; however, Capital was mostly stymied by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). The CAB also refused Capital a requested subsidy. Still, Capital's passenger-miles in 1957 were 88% more than 1955.

Without further ado, here is a video about Capital Airlines. If the notes are right, the Constellation is an L-049 model.

More Capital Airlines:

Thu Aug 31, 2023: On this day, August 31, 1940, Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashed near Lovettsville VA.

Tue Aug 31, 2021, 09:42 AM: Aug. 31: Arthur Godfrey's birthday (1903) and the first airline crash investigated by the CAB (1940)

Fri Aug 31, 2018: Today's aeronautical anniversaries: Arthur Godfrey's birthday, and the first CAB crash investigation

Fri May 6, 2016: Loudoun Planning Commission backs AT&T’s data center plans for Short Hill Mountain

[callous taoboy]

1. Hmmm, interesting:

One of those killed was Senator Ernest Lundeen, who had ties to Nazi Germany:
From Wikipedia
Ernest Lundeen (August 4, 1878 – August 31, 1940) was an American lawyer and politician who represented Minnesota in the United States House of Representatives from 1917 to 1919 and 1933 to 1937 and the United States Senate from 1937 until his death in 1940. He was a member of the Republican Party before joining the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party, and he opposed American involvement in World War I and World War II. He was also affiliated with the Nazi Party of Germany.

A veteran of the Spanish–American War, he got his beginning in politics when he served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from the 42nd district, between 1911 and 1914. Originally elected as a Republican, he represented Minnesota's 5th congressional district for a single term between 1917 and 1919, and lost renomination in 1918 due to his opposition to American entry into World War I. He was killed in a plane crash near Lovettsville, Virginia, on the afternoon of August 31, 1940, along with 24 others. At the time of his death, he was the subject of a probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation due to his ties to Nazi Germany.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Lundeen

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Thanks. I'm going to go back and update the account. I haven't edited it since 2021, it looks like. NT