American Airlines Flight 6780, the first fatal crash of a

Convair 240 The Convair CV-240 is an American airliner that Convair manufactured from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement for the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. Featuring a more modern design with cabin pressurization, the 240 series made some inro ...

, occurred on January 22, 1952. The twin-propeller aircraft was on the routing Buffalo-

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

- Syracuse-

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

. On final approach to runway 6 at Newark Airport using the

instrument landing system In aviation, the instrument landing system (ILS) is a precision radio navigation system that provides short-range guidance to aircraft to allow them to approach a runway at night or in bad weather. In its original form, it allows an aircraft to ...

, it crashed at 3:45 p.m. into a house at the intersection of Williamson and South Streets, in the city of Elizabeth, New Jersey, approximately southeast of Newark. The cause of the crash was never determined. The plane, which had gone off course to the right, narrowly missed hitting the

Battin High School Battin High School was a public high school in Elizabeth, in Union County, New Jersey, United States, which operated as part of the Elizabeth Public Schools. The school opened in 1889 as a coeducational institution.Staff''The City of Elizabeth, N ...

for girls, which had dismissed for the day only 45 minutes before.

Casualties

All 23 occupants on board (20 passengers and 3 crew), plus 7 people on the ground, were killed in the crash and ensuing fire. The Captain, Thomas J. Reid, whose home was only blocks from the crash scene, had recently returned from an airlift to Japan; his wife heard the crash and told reporters that they had been planning to move to a house they had constructed in

Point Pleasant, New Jersey Point Pleasant is a borough in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was down from 19,306 in 2000 but still up from 18,177 in 1990. The Borough is a Jersey Shore community situ ...

. Among the passengers was

Robert P. Patterson Robert Porter Patterson Sr. (February 12, 1891 – January 22, 1952) was an American judge who served as United States Under Secretary of War, Under Secretary of War under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and US Secretary of War, U.S. Secretary of ...

, a jurist and former Undersecretary of War under Franklin Delano Roosevelt and former

War Secretary The Secretary of State for War, commonly called War Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The Secretary of State for War headed the War Office and ...

under

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

. Patterson was returning from meeting

Thomas J. Watson Thomas John Watson Sr. (February 17, 1874 – June 19, 1956) was an American businessman who served as the chairman and CEO of IBM. He oversaw the company's growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956. Watson developed IBM's manageme ...

of IBM, who had just hired him for a new case on the previous day. Patterson had finished a federal case in Buffalo earlier than expected the day before, and changed his rail ticket in for the aircraft seat, according to the Jan 23 edition of the '' Deseret News''.

Aftermath

This was the second in a string of three crashes to hit the town of Elizabeth in less than two months. On December 16, 1951, a Miami Airlines C-46 had crashed into the Elizabeth River shortly after take-off, with 56 people on board and no survivors. The third crash, National Airlines Flight 101, on February 11, 1952, killed 29 of the 63 people on board and narrowly missed an orphanage. Following a public outcry, Newark Airport was immediately closed by the

Port of New York Authority The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized b ...

and remained so for nine months, until November 15. The

State of New York New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...

passed a bill requiring operators to approach airports over water wherever possible. President Harry Truman launched a temporary commission of inquiry, headed by

Jimmy Doolittle James Harold Doolittle (December 14, 1896 – September 27, 1993) was an American military general and aviation pioneer who received the Medal of Honor for his daring raid on Japan during World War II. He also made early coast-to-coast flights ...

, to study the effects of airports on their neighbors. The report recommended the establishment of effective

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

laws to prevent the erection of schools, hospitals and other places of assembly under final approach paths. The three crashes later provided the inspiration to writer and Elizabeth resident

Judy Blume Judith Blume (née Sussman; born February 12, 1938) is an American writer of children's, young adult and adult fiction. Blume began writing in 1959 and has published more than 25 novels. Among her best-known works are ''Are You There God? It's Me ...

for her 2015 novel '' In the Unlikely Event''.

References

Sources

Report
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Civil Aeronautics Board The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1938 and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services including scheduled passenger airline serviceStringer, David H."Non-Skeds: T ...

PDF
*
Amendment

PDF
* "Plane Crash" ''The Herald-Press'', January 23, 1952. St. Joseph, Michigan. pp. 1, 6
"Airliner Crash Deaths Reach 28"

The Deseret News The ''Deseret News'' () is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American west. Its multi-platform products feature journalism and commentary across the fields of politics, culture, family life, faith, sports, and entertainment. Th ...

January 23, 1952. pp. 1,2
"Patterson called Great American by Truman"
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette January 23, 1952, pp. 1,3 {{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in the 1950s Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Airliner accidents and incidents with an unknown cause Airliner accidents and incidents in New Jersey Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1952 6780 Accidents and incidents involving the Convair CV-240 family History of Elizabeth, New Jersey 1952 in New Jersey January 1952 events in the United States Newark Liberty International Airport