American Airlines Flight 723 was a scheduled

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 ...

flight from Boston Airport in Massachusetts, to

Chicago Midway Airport Chicago Midway International Airport , typically referred to as Midway Airport, Chicago Midway, or simply Midway, is a major commercial airport on the Southwest side of Chicago, Illinois, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from the Lo ...

in Illinois. On September 16, 1953, 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 ...

propliner A propliner is a large, propeller-driven airliner. Typically, the term is used for piston engine airliners that flew before the large scale advent of airliners of the jet age. With the notable exception of the de Havilland Albatross and Fokker F ...

flying this route crashed while attempting to land at Albany Airport in upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, killing all 28 people on board.

Accident

The Convair had arrived at Bradley Field from Boston Airport at 6:57 am for a scheduled stopover. At that time, weather at Albany was below airline landing minima, but was forecast to improve within limits by the flight's scheduled arrival time. The flight left Bradley at 7:14, and once in the Albany terminal area, found poor visibility preventing landings, with several aircraft ahead of it in a holding pattern. The flight joined the holding pattern, circling while awaiting weather conditions legal for landing. At 7:50, a special weather observation reported thin obscurement, with an

overcast Overcast or overcast weather, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization, is the meteorological condition of clouds obscuring at least 95% of the sky. However, the total cloud cover must not be entirely due to obscuring phenomena near t ...

cloud ceiling In aviation, ceiling is a measurement of the height of the base of the lowest clouds (not to be confused with cloud base which has a specific definition) that cover more than half of the sky (more than 4 oktas) relative to the ground. Ceiling is ...

estimated at above the airport. Horizontal visibility was , obscured by

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...

. Two aircraft left the holding pattern, making attempts to land, but both made

missed approach Missed approach is a procedure followed by a pilot when an instrument approach cannot be completed to a full-stop landing. The instructions for the missed approach may be assigned by air traffic control (ATC) prior to the clearance for the approa ...

es. A third landed at 8:16 following an

instrument approach In aviation, an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure (IAP) is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft operating under instrument flight rules from the beginning of the initial approach to a landi ...

to runway 19. After the latest airplane's successful landing, Flight 723 was cleared to execute the same instrument approach to runway 19. At 8:19, the flight advised the tower that because the aircraft's flaps could not be lowered, they would be abandoning their approach and returning to the holding pattern.Record 19530916-0
at

Aviation Safety Net The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) is an independent, nonprofit, international organization concerning research, education, advocacy, and communications in the field of aviation safety. FSF brings together aviation professionals from all sectors ...

At 8:30, the Albany

control tower 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 air ...

reported: "All aircraft holding Albany. It now appears to be pretty good for a

contact approach A contact approach is an approach available to aircraft operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan, where the pilot may deviate from the published instrument approach procedure (IAP) and proceed to the destination airport by visua ...

from the west. It looks much better than to the north," the north being the direction from which approaches to runway 19 had been attempted. Flight 723 was cleared for a contact approach to runway 10. On

final approach In aeronautics, the final approach (also called the final leg and final approach leg) is the last leg in an aircraft's approach to landing, when the aircraft is lined up with the runway and descending for landing.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of ...

, while still miles west of the airport, the Convair descended too low, and at an altitude of , struck a set of three -tall radio masts arrayed east to west. The right wing struck the center tower of the three, then the left wing struck the east tower. Seven feet of the outer panel of the right wing including the right

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

and control mechanism from the center hinge outboard together with 15 feet of the left outer wing panel and aileron separated from the aircraft. Ground impact occurred beyond the east tower. At this point, the aircraft had rolled to a partially inverted attitude. The nose and left wing struck the ground first. The rest of the airplane fell to earth in short order and caught fire. The aircraft narrowly missed hitting a

trailer park A trailer park,caravan park, mobile home park, mobile home community or manufactured home community is a temporary or permanent area for mobile homes and travel trailers. Advantages include low cost compared to other housing, and quick and ea ...

on Albany-

Schenectady Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

Road. All 28 occupants on board (25 passengers, two pilots, and a

flight attendant A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are prima ...

) were killed. At the time of the accident, a special weather observation reported thin scattered clouds at 500 feet, with a ceiling of broken clouds estimated at 4500 feet. The visibility had improved to in fog.

Investigation

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 accident and issued a report wherein they identified the

probable cause In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which police authorities have reason to obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspected criminal or the issuing of a search warrant. There is no universally accepted definition o ...

of the accident: "During the execution of a contact approach, and while maneuvering for alignment with the runway to be used, descent was made to an altitude below obstructions partially obscured by fog in a local area of restricted visibility." Samuel Bloom of Troy, NY had a reservation to be aboard this flight, however, he missed his originating flight from Albany to Boston on September 15 because of heavy traffic on the way to the airport and opted to drive to Boston instead. The heavy traffic ultimately saved his life. This same man missed a ferry during WW2 and was forced to fly. The ferry sank.Times Union Newspaper, Crush Kept Bloom from Crash - September 17, 1953

References

External links

Report
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PDF
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Airlines Flight 0723 Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1953 1953 in New York (state)

723 __NOTOC__ Year 723 ( DCCXXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 723 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...

Airliner accidents and incidents in New York (state) Accidents and incidents involving the Convair CV-240 family Transportation in Albany County, New York Colonie, New York