West Virginia

The takeoff was initiated in adverse weather conditions with fog. After takeoff, the twin engine airplane descended and crashed half a mile east of the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and all three occupants were killed.

En route from Berckley Springs to Charleston, while in normal cruise, both engines failed. The crew elected to make an emergency landing when control was lost. The airplane crashed and was destroyed upon impact, killing both occupants.

At liftoff, one of the engine failed. The crew lost control of the airplane that lost height and crashed in flames in woods downhill of dirt bank. The aircraft was destroyed and all six occupants have been killed.

While descending to Williamstown, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions with low ceiling, snow falls and icing conditions. At an altitude of 8,000 feet, the left engine failed and the pilot continued the approach on one engine until he was forced to initiate a go-around manoeuvre. While in traffic pattern-circling, the airplane went out of control, stalled and crashed few miles from the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were killed.

The crew was completing a training mission from Pittsburgh to Wheeling. While cruising at an altitude of 5,000 feet, the crew decided to perform several stalls when control was lost. The airplane entered a dive and crashed in flames in an open field located near Wellsburg. The aircraft was totally destroyed and all three occupants were killed.

The airplane departed Kinston-Stallings Field, North Carolina, at 1838LT on a charter flight to Huntington, West Virginia, carrying players and fans of the Marshall University Football Team based in Huntington. Following an uneventful flight, the crew contacted Huntington Approach Control at 1923LT and was cleared for a runway 11 localizer approach. At 1934LT, the airplane passed the Outer Marker and the crew was cleared to land. In marginal weather conditions (mist and rain), the airplane descended below the minimum descent altitude and the crew failed to realize his altitude was too low when the aircraft struck trees and crashed in flames on the slope of a hill located one mile short of runway 11 threshold. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and none of the 75 occupants survived the crash. At the time of the accident, there were scattered clouds at 300 feet, broken overcast at 500 feet and solid overcast at 1,000 feet. Among the 75 occupants were 36 players, nine coaches and administrators, 26 fans and four crew members.

The twin engine airplane was completing a liaison flight from Fort Meade, MD, to Huntington, WV. While approaching Huntington-Tri-State Airport by night and in heavy rain falls, the aircraft went out of control and crashed on final. One passenger was injured while three other occupants were killed, among them Major General Edwin H. Burba, Deputy Commander of the 1st Army.
Crew:
Cw2 Paul R. Burtt, pilot,
Cw3 Maynard V. Reisinger, copilot.
Passengers:
MG Edwin H. Burba +1.

While in cruising altitude, en route from Washington-Dulles Airport to Dallas, the crew encountered technical problems with the right engine. Decision was taken to shut down the engine and to feather the propeller. The crew was then cleared to divert to Charleston-Kanawha Airport for an emergency landing. During the final approach, the pilot supervisor interfered verbally in the process and the airplane landed 3,000 feet down the runway 23 which is 5,600 feet long. Unable to stop within the remaining distance, the airplane overran and came to rest in flames on a dirt bank. All seven occupants evacuated safely and the aircraft was destroyed.

Flight 230 was a scheduled domestic flight from Louisville, Kentucky, to Roanoke, Virginia, with en-route stops at Cincinnati, Ohio and Charleston, Kanawha County Airport, West Virginia. The flight to Cincinnati was routine. At 0805 hours eastern daylight time the flight departed Cincinnati on an IFR clearance to Charleston via Victor Airways 128 south to York, thence Victor 128 to Charleston, to maintain 9 000 ft. At 0835 hours the flight contacted the Charleston Tower to request the latest weather information, which was provided as: sky partially obscured, visibility 4 mile fog and smoke, runway 23 visibility less than 1/8 of a mile. Shortly thereafter it was cleared by the Indianapolis ARTCC to the Milton Intersection (10 miles west-northwest of the Charleston VORTAC on Victor 128) and to descend to and maintain 5 000 ft. At approximately 0841 hours the flight contacted Charleston Approach Control and reported leaving 6 000 for 5 000 ft. The controller advised the flight that radar contact had been established and instructed the flight to take a 070' heading for a vector to the holding pattern at the ILS outer marker. The latest weather was also given at this time as: sky partially obscured, visibility 4 mile, fog and smoke, runway visibility runway 23 zero, altimeter setting 29.94 in. The flight was then provided with holding instructions to be followed upon arrival over the outer marker compass locator (LOM) and was given an expected approach time of 0915 hours subject to weather conditions. At 0850 hours prior to reaching the LOM, the flight was instructed to turn right to a heading of 140°, cleared to descend to 2 400 ft and advised that the runway visibility for runway 23 had improved to seven-eighths of a mile. At 0851 hours the flight was advised that it was seven miles northeast of the outer locator, instructed to turn right to a 200' heading and cleared for an ILS approach. The flight acknowledged the clearance and it shortly thereafter was advised by the approach controller that the glide path was out of service. At 0852 hours the flight was advised that it was 5 miles from the LOM and instructed to contact Charleston Tower on 120.3 MHz. At 0853 hours radio contact with the flight was established by the tower local 'controller who cleared the flight to land. By that time the landing check had been completed by the crew and descent was established at a fairly constant rate of descent of approximately 620 ft/min. At 0854:40 hours the flight reported passing the outer marker inbound and requested the wind which was given as being 230°/4 kt. At 0855:55 hours the flight asked the tower if the approach lights and high intensity runway lights were turned all the way up and the controller replied in the affirmative, adding "a little fog right off the end there and its wide open after you get by that, it's more than a mile and a half on the runway". This was the last known radio communication from the flight. At 0856:09 hours the pilot-in-command mentioned to the co-pilot that he was going to hold the present altitude which was approximately 1 250 ft AMSL (350 ft above the elevation of runway 23 threshold). At 0856:24 hours the co-pilot informed the pilot-in-command that he had the lights in sight "down low" and asked him if he could see them. The pilot-in-command replied he had them in sight and requested landing flaps. The co-pilot then commented "I got to get to the chart right here we're likely to lose it". At 0856:42 hours the co-pilot asked the pilot-in-command if he saw the lights "there", the pilot-in-command replied in the affirmative and shortly thereafter reduced the power and 2 sec later increased it - 1 sec later the co-pilot commented "watch it". About 1 sec later the aircraft crashed. The controller observed a column of smoke rising near the approach end of the runway and immediately activated the crash siren and called for the dispatch of airport emergency equipment. The aircraft struck the steep hillside about 250 ft short of the runway threshold at an elevation of 865 ft AMSL (approximately 33 ft below the elevation of the threshold). The aircraft then careened up and over the side of the hill and on to the airport, coming to rest off the right side of runway 23. The accident occurred at 0856:53 hours during daylight. Two passengers were seriously injured while 35 other occupants were killed.

While cruising by night, the crew encountered poor visibility due to fog. At ant insufficient altitude, the twin engine aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located near Beverly. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and both pilots were killed.