Florida Commuter Airlines was a small

U.S. 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 territori ...

regional airline based out of Palm Beach International Airport that evolved directly from Roberson Air, Inc., which did business as Red Baron Airlines. This happened when Dr. Rudolph P. Scheerer bought out Dr. Clive E. Roberson for a 100% stake in the airline on June 13, 1980. The management structure remained the same except for Dr. Clive E. Roberson. On July 24, 1980, Florida Commuter Airlines received its carrier operating certificate as a commuter and charter operator. It was certified to fly 2

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

s and a Piper PA-31 Navajo. On September 9, 1980, an interline agreement was signed with

Air Florida Air Florida was an American low-cost carrier that operated from 1971 to 1984. In 1975 it was headquartered in the Dadeland Towers in what is now Kendall, Florida in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. Air Florida's IATA code is now used by ...

. An interline and a bilateral agreement was also signed with

Eastern Airlines Eastern Air Lines, also colloquially known as Eastern, was a major United States airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ea ...

Route

The airline offered weekday flights starting in the morning from

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

, and stopping in Gainesville, Florida, before continuing to

Tallahassee, Florida Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the populatio ...

, and then

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. In the afternoon the route was the reverse. Finally in the late afternoon the flight path was West Palm Beach, Gainesville, Tallahassee, and the reverse for the evening. On Saturday and Sunday, Jacksonville was not a destination. The airline later became Southern Airlines in 1981 shortly after the

Florida Commuter Airlines crash On September 12, 1980, Florida Commuter Airlines Flight 65, operating from West Palm Beach, Florida to Freeport, Bahamas, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near West End Settlement on Grand Bahama Island. The Douglas DC-3A used on the flight was ...

of a Douglas DC-3 in the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

on September 12, 1980.

Accidents and incidents

*On November 22, 1966, de Havilland DH.125 N235KC of Florida Commuter Airlines crashed into the sea off

Grand Bahama International Airport Grand Bahama International Airport (GBIA) is an international airport in Freeport, Bahamas. It was privately owned until the government of the Bahamas purchased it in April 2021. The airport was a joint venture between Hutchison Port Holdin ...

Freeport, Bahamas Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama of the northwest Bahamas. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand Bahama, was granted of pineyard with substantial areas of sw ...

, during an illegal flight from

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. *On September 12, 1980, Douglas DC-3A N75KW of Florida Commuter Airlines, operating a scheduled international passenger flight from Palm Beach International Airport, Palm Beach, Florida,

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 territori ...

, to Grand Bahama International Airport crashed into the sea off West End. All 34 on board were killed. The aircraft was on an international non-scheduled passenger flight from Palm Beach International Airport,

, to

. Although the cause of the accident was never determined, it is known that the aircraft flew into a

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...

and that there were pre-existing deficiencies with the

pitot tube A pitot ( ) tube (pitot probe) measures fluid flow velocity. It was invented by a French engineer, Henri Pitot, in the early 18th century, and was modified to its modern form in the mid-19th century by a French scientist, Henry Darcy. It ...

and static system on the aircraft. Florida Commuter Airlines were criticized for their poor maintenance regime.

References

Defunct regional airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1980 Airlines disestablished in 1981 1980 establishments in Florida 1981 disestablishments in Florida West Palm Beach, Florida Defunct companies based in Florida Defunct airlines of the United States {{US-airline-stub

Route

Accidents and incidents

See also

References