National Airlines Flight 101 was a scheduled flight from Newark Airport, New Jersey, to

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, Florida, that on February 11, 1952 crashed in the town of Elizabeth, New Jersey, shortly after take-off. It was the third plane crash occurring in Elizabeth in less than two months, following the loss of a Miami Airlines C-46 in December and the crash of an American Airlines Convair 240, three weeks earlier.

Crash

The aircraft, a four-engined, propeller-driven

Douglas DC-6 The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, it was reworked after the war to compete with t ...

, had departed from Newark Airport's runway 24 at 00:18 EST and was observed by personnel in the control tower suddenly losing altitude, while veering to the right. Two minutes later, the plane clipped an apartment building in Elizabeth, setting it on fire; it then crashed to the ground and burst into flames, narrowly missing an

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. Of the 63 people on board (59 passengers and 4 crew members), 29 perished, while all of the survivors were injured, many seriously. Four residents in the apartment building were also killed. Among the passengers was actress Mildred Joanne Smith, who suffered severe injuries, including a broken back.

Investigation

The official investigation by the

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 ...

concluded that a failure in the propeller's pitch control system of engine No. 3 caused the propeller to go into

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during climb-out. The engine was left running at high power, while engine No. 4 was mistakenly feathered. Under such conditions, the aircraft was no longer able to maintain altitude and descended into the ground.
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Aftermath

In the wake of this third accident in Elizabeth, mounting public concern led to a lengthy closure of Newark Airport and to a nationwide review of the safety of airport operations. The airport reopened only nine months later, on November 15, 1952, after the investigations into the crashes determined that the airport facilities were not at fault. 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

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:National Airlines Flight 0101 101 Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-6 Airliner accidents and incidents caused by mechanical failure Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error Airliner accidents and incidents in New Jersey History of Elizabeth, New Jersey 1952 in New Jersey February 1952 events in the United States Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1952