Eastern Air Lines Flight 512
Eastern Air Lines Flight 512 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Eastern Air Lines from Charlotte Municipal Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Idlewild Airport in New York City. On November 30, 1962, while attempting to abort an attempted landing at its destination, the Douglas DC-7B operating the flight crashed after it failed to gain altitude and struck the ground. 25 of the 51 occupants of the plane died in the accident. Emergency crews responded, but rescuers were delayed by the thick fog and the soft terrain. An investigation launched after the crash found that the probable cause of the accident was that the pilots had made critical mistakes during the go-around that prevented the aircraft from gaining altitude.
An Eastern Air Lines DC-7, similar to the one involved in the crash | |
Accident | |
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Date | November 30, 1962 |
Summary | Pilot error |
Site | Idlewild Airport New York City, United States |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | Douglas DC-7B |
Operator | Eastern Air Lines |
Registration | N815D |
Flight origin | Charlotte Municipal Airport Charlotte, North Carolina |
Destination | Idlewild Airport New York City, New York |
Occupants | 51 |
Passengers | 45 |
Crew | 6 |
Fatalities | 25 |
Survivors | 26 |