White Plains-Westchester County

On final approach to Boca Raton Airport, the captain attempted to retard the throttles but inadvertently shut down both engines. The airplane lost speed, stalled and struck the ground 900 feet short of runway 04 threshold. On impact, the undercarriage were torn off, the airplane slid for several yards and came to rest in a construction area. Both pilots were seriously injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

A Mohawk Airlines, Inc., Martin 404, N449A, operating as Flight 112 from Rochester, New York, to Newark, New Jersey, crashed on the Rochester-Monroe County Airport July 2, 1963, at approximately 1649 e d t. Seven of the forty-three persons aboard, including both pilots, were fatally injured. Flight 112 commenced a takeoff on runway 28 as a thunderstorm approaching from the west-northwest, moved over the takeoff runway. After becoming airborne and almost immediately after entering heavy rain and shifting wind conditions, the left wing of the aircraft made contact with the ground. In the ensuing Cartwheel to a stop, the aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire.

Shortly after takeoff from Chicago-Merrill C. Meigs Airport, while in initial climb, the twin engine aircraft stalled and crashed into the Lake Michigan, about 50 feet from the shore. All seven occupants were rescued while the aircraft was lost. Owned by Cluett Peabody & Company, the airplane was on its way to White Plains, New York.

The twin engine aircraft was completing a flight from Groton-New London Airport (CT) to White Plaines with a crew of two on board and one passenger, a daughter of the company's Executive Vice-President. At 1341LT, the flight reported to Westchester Tower that it was over the outer marker, inbound, at 2,500 feet. Approximately two minutes later it crashed between the outer and inner markers of the Westchester 115. The aircraft began clipping trees about 800 feet before it struck the ground on a 680-foot knoll located on the ILS approach path. Both crew members were killed. The passenger, who sustained only minor injuries, stayed with the aircraft until approximately 1630LT, then walked out and located help. She stated that she had flown quite a bit in this same airplane with the same crew and that the subject flight was the roughest she had ever encountered; that during the approach the weather was so “soupy” she could not see the numbers on the aircraft and that she heard the pilot say to the copilot, “Keep your eyes peeled.” Weather conditions, as reported by Westchester County Airport operations personnel, were: ceiling 300 feet and visibility 1 mile. The aircraft was owned and operated by Sangamo Electric Company, Springlfield, Illinois.

On final approach to Newark Airport, the twin engine aircraft hit power cables and crashed in a swampy area. All three occupants were injured and the aircraft was written off.

Aircraft NC 22077 departed from Providence, Rhode Island, for White Plains, New York, at about 0730 March 19, 1948. The aircraft carried the pilot, Herman F. Burlingame III, his wife Ruth L. Burlingame, their infant daughter Kathleen, and George H. Armitage, as well as four Chow dogs and personal baggage. Arriving at Westchester Airport, White Plains, one hour and 20 minutes later, aircraft NC22077 was serviced with 118 gallons of fuel. At 0935 the aircraft departed from White Plains, the pilot telling airport officials that he intended to fly either to Hadley Field, New Brunswick, New Jersey, or Solberg-Hunterdon Airport, White House, New Jersey. Two hours and 31 minutes later the aircraft returned to White Plains, Mr. Burlingame telling airport officials that he had not landed at either of the alternative destinations. The aircraft was parked for the night, after being serviced with 85 gallons of fuel. The following morning, March 20, 1948, at 0550 the flight departed from White Plains for St. Louis, Missouri. The aircraft carried an additional four persons who had joined the original group at White Plains. The take-off weight could not be precisely determined, but it was close to the maximum allowable. No flight plan was filed with CAA Airways Traffic Control, and though NC22077 was equipped with two-way radio, no transmissions were received from the flight after its departure from White Plains. Consequently the exact route over which the flight proceeded is not known. Shortly after 0800, witnesses in the vicinity of the west portal of the Laurel Hill Tunnel of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, approximately 45 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, observed an aircraft flying at a low altitude on a northwesterly heading. It was flying in and out of low-hanging cloud fringes, and therefore, was not continuously visible. However, the aircraft was observed to approach the tunnel, circle in front of the portal, and then disappear into the overcast. After losing sight of the aircraft, some of the witnesses stated that they heard a surge of engine power, followed by the sound of a crash. Others, more distant, noticed that sound from the aircraft ceased abruptly. Since no other aircraft was observed in the vicinity at that time, there is no doubt but what it was NC22077 that these witnesses saw.