30-01-2025
A tragic plane crash over the Grand Canyon helped make flying safer in the US. Here's how
A tragic crash near the Ronald Reagan Airport in Washington left 67 dead after a commercial airliner and Army helicopter collided in midair on Wednesday night.
Midair collisions are less common than they once were because of strict regulations controlling air traffic in the U.S., enacted partially as a result of a fatal Arizona plane crash nearly 70 years ago.
The 1956 collision over the Grand Canyon killed more than 100 people. At the time, it was the deadliest civilian plane crash and it remains one of the worst in U.S. history.
Here's everything you need to know about the deadliest plane crash in Arizona's history and the influence it left on the nation.
The Grand Canyon mid-air collision was among the first commercial airline incidents to result in over 100 fatalities.
On June 30, 1956, a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 crashed into a Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation over Grand Canyon National Park.
Live updates: All 67 aboard plane, copter killed in tragic midair collision near DC
Both planes took off from Los Angeles just after 9 a.m., but their respective flight plans were completely different, according to Nature, Culture and History at the Grand Canyon.
The Douglas DC-7 (Flight 718) was headed to Chicago and would be traveling over Palm Springs. The L-1049 Super Constellation (Flight 2) was supposed to fly over the San Bernardino Mountains to reach its destination, Kansas City. So, what went wrong?
Trans World Airlines Flight 2 to Kansas City hit turbulence, so Captain Jack S. Gandy requested an altitude increase of 2,000 feet. Gandy's request was denied by air traffic control, though, so his plane wouldn't cross into United Airlines Flight 718's route.
Gandy then received clearance to fly 1,000 feet on top of any weather in his path. Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center informed Gandy that Flight 718 would be trafficking near him.
The last coherent radio communication from either plane occurred just before 10 a.m., then a missing aircraft alert was issued about an hour later.
A small aircraft pilot operating for a Grand Canyon scenic flights company identified the wreckage later that day. Search-and-rescue efforts began the following morning, but it was extremely difficult.
Flight 718 fell deep into the canyon near the confluence of the Colorado River and the Little Colorado River, its wreckage strewn over the southern cliff face of Chuar Butte. Flight 2 hit a rock face on the northeast terrace of Temple Butte.
United Airlines utilized a special Swiss mountain rescue team. A paramedic joined rescue teams on the first few helicopter rides to the impact sites, but they soon discovered the heat of the crash had melted and fused the aluminum of the airplanes to the bedrock.
All 128 people on board the planes perished. None of the remains were identified, and a mass funeral was later held in northern Arizona for the victims of Flight 2.
It took two weeks to decipher a garbled transmission Aeronautical Radio Communications in Salt Lake City had picked up on the morning of the collision. The transmission came from United Airlines Flight 718. Crew members could be heard saying "We're going in" and "Pull up!"
An investigation into the tragedy concluded that pilots did not see each other in time to avoid the collision.
According to Nature, Culture and History at the Grand Canyon, the disaster demonstrated the consequences of an outmoded and overtaxed air transportation system.
The Federal Aviation Administration was later established, partially as a result of the Grand Canyon collision.
Wreckage from the catastrophe is still scattered around the canyon today. According to the Grand Canyon Visitor Center, the crash site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2014, making it the first landmark for an event that happened in the air.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 1956 Grand Canyon plane crash: How the disaster helped form FAA
