American Airlines Flight 63 was an

American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

DC-3 nicknamed the ''Flagship Missouri'' that crashed on October 15, 1943, near Centerville, Tennessee, after ice formed on its wings and propeller. All eight passengers and three crewmembers died. This was the second fatal crash of an aircraft designated Flight 63, occurring months after the crash of the ''Flagship Missouri''’s sister ship, the '' Flagship Ohio''.

Flight history

American Airlines Flight 63 serviced a 6-leg domestic passenger service between Cleveland, Ohio, and Memphis, Tennessee. The full routing of the flight was

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

- Louisville-

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

- Memphis. Up until July 28, 1943, this route was serviced by the ''Flagship Missouris sister ship, the ''Flagship Ohio''. The ''Flagship Ohio'' was lost on the Louisville-Nashville leg of the flight, when the severe downdrafts of a nearby thunderstorm forced the DC-3 to crash into a field near Trammel, Kentucky. After the loss of the ''Flagship Ohio'', the ''Flagship Missouri'' covered Flight 63. The ''Flagship Missouri'' was a DC-3 built by the

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated a ...

for

. It had been in service for seven years, since 1936, and had logged a total of 17,774 hours of flight time at the time of the crash. The three crewmembers were Captain Dale F. Dryer, pilot, First Officer W. J. Brand, and one stewardess.

Crash

Flight 63 departed from

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

, at 5:56 pm, 17 minutes behind schedule. The stops at

, and Louisville were also delayed. By the time the flight departed

, it was running 1 hour, 38 minutes late. Departure from Nashville proceeded normally, and the pilot radioed to

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airsp ...

(ATC) that he had reached an altitude of at 10:59 PM. At 11:06 PM, the flight requested and received permission from Nashville ATC to climb to . Ice which had formed on the wings and propellers of the aircraft made it impossible for the aircraft to maintain altitude. The plane gradually lost altitude until it crashed into a forested hill that rose up above the surrounding terrain. Eyewitnesses told reporters that the plane "circled desperately" in search of a safe landing place before plummeting into a deep gulch. Local woodsmen observed the plane's landing attempts and later heard the crash, but were unable to summon help or report it due to the lack of telephones in the area. The wreckage was discovered the following morning by woodcutter John Durison. 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 ...

investigated the crash and determined that ice that had formed on the propeller or wings made it impossible for the pilot to control the altitude of the aircraft. The ten passengers included two captains and an aviation cadet, as well as a Texan and four Tennessee residents.

References

External links

Final report
of the

Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Airlines Flight 63 Airliner accidents and incidents caused by ice Airliner accidents and incidents in Tennessee Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1943 63 Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-3 Hickman County, Tennessee 1943 in Tennessee

Flight history

Crash

See also

References

External links