Mohawk Airlines Flight 112 was a scheduled

passenger flight An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

from Rochester-Monroe Airport in Rochester, New York to

Newark International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark, New Jersey, Newark in Essex County, New Jerse ...

in Newark, New Jersey. On July 2, 1963, the aircraft operating the flight, a

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 ...

with a total of 15,970 operational hours, crashed during

takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a t ...

. The accident killed 7 people (2 crewmen and 5 passengers) and injured 36. Flight 112 attempted to take off on Rochester's runway 28 into a heavy

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 someti ...

. The

co-pilot In aviation, the first officer (FO), also called co-pilot, is the pilot who is second-in-command of the aircraft to the captain, who is the legal commander. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command o ...

was unable to maintain control of the aircraft, and it fell to earth two minutes after takeoff. The plane struck the ground left wing-first. It then cartwheeled wing-over-wing and caught fire. The co-pilot, as

pilot flying In commercial aviation with a two-person flight crew, the pilot flying (PF) is the pilot operating the flight controls of the aircraft. The other pilot is referred to as the pilot monitoring (PM) or pilot not flying (PNF). Before a flight departs, ...

, had attempted to keep the plane aloft, keeping a tight grip on the controls even after recovery was impossible. The captain managed to assume control and managed to guide the plane down to save most of the passengers. The

NTSB The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

found the cause of the accident to be the pilot's decision to take off in bad weather, and cited the weather itself as a contributing factor. The captain had initially refused to take off, but was told he would be demoted if he did not commence the flight, as he had twice previously refused to take off in bad weather.

References

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Summary
by

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incid ...

420 F.2d 115 136 U.S.App.D.C. 273 Joan S. NEFF, Administratrix of the Estate of John W. Neff v.UNITED STATES of America, Appellant. No. 22262. United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

External links

a
Monroe County Airport Professional Firefighters
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1963 Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather Accidents and incidents involving the Martin 4-0-4 Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1963 1963 in New York (state) Mohawk Airlines accidents and incidents Airliner accidents and incidents in New York (state) History of Rochester, New York 1963 meteorology July 1963 events in the United States