Air South was an airline from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Founded as Nationwide Airlines Southeast in 1969, the company had its headquarters in

St. Simons, Georgia St. Simons Island (or simply St. Simons) is a barrier island and census-designated place (CDP) located on St. Simons Island in Glynn County, Georgia, United States. The names of the community and the island are interchangeable, known simply as ...

. Out of its base at Atlanta Municipal Airport, Air South operated regional scheduled passenger flights within the southeastern USA, using a small fleet of

Fairchild F-27 The Fairchild F-27 and Fairchild Hiller FH-227 were versions of the Fokker F27 Friendship twin-engined turboprop passenger aircraft manufactured under license by Fairchild Hiller in the United States. The Fairchild F-27 was similar to the standa ...

and

Martin 4-0-4 The Martin 4-0-4 was an American pressurized passenger airliner built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. In addition to airline use initially in the United States, it was used by the United States Coast Guard and United States Navy as the RM-1G (l ...

aircraft, as well as the

Beechcraft Model 99 The Beechcraft Model 99 is a civilian aircraft produced by Beechcraft. It is also known as the Beech 99 Airliner and the Commuter 99. The 99 is a twin-engine, unpressurized, 15 to 17 passenger seat turboprop aircraft, derived from the earlier B ...

. In 1975, Air South was acquired by

Florida Airlines Florida Airlines was a commuter airline based in Florida that operated from 1960 to 1982. It is said to have had the largest Douglas DC3 fleet in the world in 1976. Airline deregulation eventually resulted in the demise of the airline. The com ...

and became a wholly owned subsidiary, along with Shawnee Airlines. Over the following years, Air South continued flight operations under its own branding. As a consequence of the

Airline Deregulation Act The Airline Deregulation Act is a 1978 United States federal law that deregulated the airline industry in the United States, removing federal control over such areas as fares, routes, and market entry of new airlines. The Civil Aeronautics Boa ...

, it was eventually shut down in 1978.

Route network

In the early 1970s, Air South offered a network of domestic flights to the following destinations:

Accidents and incidents

*On 6 July 1969, the twelve passengers and two pilots of Air South Flight 168 died when the aircraft, a

( registered N844NS), crashed 10 kilometers northwest of

Monroe, Georgia Monroe is a city in Walton County, Georgia, United States, serving as the county seat. It is located both one hour east of Atlanta via US 78 and GA 138 to I-20 and east of Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport and is one of the exurban ci ...

at 21:22 local time. Investigation into the accident revealed that the airplane had been at cruise level during a flight from

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

to Greenville/Spartanburg in South Carolina, when it went into an unwanted high speed nose-down dive. Because of the extreme pulling forces when they tried to regain control, both pilots were likely incapacitated so that the plane couldn't be maneuvered anymore. *On 31 March 1974, another Air South Beech 99 (registered N848NS) was destroyed when a fire broke out during taxiing at

Malcolm McKinnon Airport St. Simons Island Airport at McKinnon Field (formerly Malcolm McKinnon Airport) is six miles east of Brunswick, in Glynn County, Georgia. Located on St. Simons Island, it is also known St. Simons Island Airport at McKinnon field. The airfield ...

. The two pilots and both passengers who planned to fly to Atlanta escaped before the airplane was engulfed by the flames.

Fleet

* 3

(N2704J, N2705J, N2706J) * 1

(N258D)

References

{{US-airline-stub Defunct airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1969 Airlines disestablished in 1978 1975 mergers and acquisitions 1969 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) 1978 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state) American companies established in 1969 American companies disestablished in 1978 Airlines based in Georgia (U.S. state)

Route network

Accidents and incidents

Fleet

See also

References