National Airlines was a

trunk carrier Trunk carriers or trunk airlines or trunklines or trunks, were the US scheduled airlines certificated in the period 1939–1941 by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) or its immediate successor, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) after the passag ...

, a scheduled airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with

Pan Am Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

in 1980.Information about National Airlines at the Aero Transport Data Bank
/ref> For most of its existence the company was headquartered at

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary international airport serving Miami and its Miami metropolitan area, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of Florida. It hosts over 1, ...

, Florida. At its height, National Airlines had a network of "Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast" flights, linking Florida and

Gulf Coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...

destinations such as New Orleans and Houston with cities along the East Coast as far north as Boston as well as with large cities on the West Coast including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle.National Airlines 1964 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> From 1970 to 1978, National,

Braniff International Airways Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until the cessation of air operations, was an American airline that operated from 1928 until 1982 and continues to ...

Pan American World Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and more commonly known as Pan Am, was an airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States for ...

(Pan Am) and

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...

(TWA) were the only U.S. airlines permitted to operate scheduled passenger flights to Europe.Image collection of National Airlines timetables, at timetableimages.com
/ref>

History

1930s

George T. Baker and D. K. Franklin created a partnership called National Airlines Taxi System to fly an airmail route from Daytona Beach to

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

, pursuant to a contract with the Post Office dated August 2, 1934. The route was operated continuously from October 15, 1934. On January 6, 1935, Franklin signed over his rights to Baker and on March 1, 1935, Baker took over the contract as a

sole proprietor A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole tradership, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise owned and run by only one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. ...

, operating under the name National Airlines System until September 30, 1937. On that day, Baker's rights to the airmail contract and all property used to operate the contract were transferred to National Airlines, Inc., under a contract signed July 12, 1937. The new entity, National Airlines, was incorporated in Florida on 8 July 1937. National Airlines was founded by George T. Baker (1899–1963) in 1934. Its headquarters were in

and it was based at the city's

Albert Whitted Airport Albert Whitted Airport is a public airport in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, Florida, Pinellas County, Florida, United States. It is on the west edge of Tampa Bay, just southeast of downtown St. Petersburg and east of ...

. On October 15 of that year, revenue flights were launched, transporting passengers and mail from St. Petersburg to a few destinations within Florida using a fleet of two Ryan ST monoplanes.Photos of National Airlines timetables and route maps, at airtimes.com
/ref> In 1935, the Stinson Trimotor was introduced with National Airlines, which were soon replaced by the

Lockheed Model 10 Electra The Lockheed Model 10 Electra is an American twin-engined, all-metal monoplane airliner developed by the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, which was produced primarily in the 1930s to compete with the Boeing 247 and Douglas DC-2. The type gained ...

.1937 National Airlines timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> In 1939, the company headquarters were moved to

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. By the end of the decade, the National Airlines network spanned from

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

,National Airlines 1938 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> on what it called the ''Buccaneer Route''.

1940s

Revenue passenger miles for years ending June 30: * 1936: 249,799 * 1938: 653,688 * 1939: 1,340,050 * 1940: 3,465,316 * 1941: 7,264,322 * 1946: 108,760,267 In 1940 the

Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar The Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar is an American passenger transport aircraft of the World War II era, developed as part of the Model 10 Electra family, specifically from the Lockheed Model 14 Super Electra. Design and development Sales of the 1 ...

became the backbone of National's fleet. National was awarded rights from Florida to New York City and other cities along the East Coast in 1944, with flights starting in 1945.''Airline to the playgrounds of the world''. The Boeing Magazine, January 196
page 3

page 4

page 5
In 1946 National got approval to fly to

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Douglas DC-4. The DC-4 allowed non-stop flights between Miami and New YorkNational Airlines 1947 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> that started on February 14, 1946. Later that year National relocated its headquarters to

; a maintenance base opened at Miami in 1950.National Airlines 1952 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> The

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, Douglas reworked it after the war to compete ...

, National's first pressurized airliner, began flights on July 1, 1947 and reduced New York to Miami flight time from five to four hours. Flights on the DC-6 were marketed as ''Star Service''. National ran the ''Piggy Bank Vacations'' campaign, promoting low-fare flights to Florida during the off-peak summer season.National Airlines 1954 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref>

1950s

This decade saw the introduction of the Convair 340/440, the Douglas DC-7, and the Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation.National Airlines 1958 timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> On December 10, 1958, National became the first airline to operate domestic jet flights, using a

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

leased from

between Miami and New York. In 1959 the

Lockheed L-188 Electra The Lockheed L-188 Electra is an American turboprop airliner built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed. First flown in 1957, it was the first large turboprop airliner built in the United States. With its fairly high power-to-weight ratio, huge pro ...

was introduced into the fleet. It was the only turboprop aircraft type ever operated by the airline.Image of National Airlines 1959 advert, at airtimes.com
/ref> At the end of the decade Houston and Boston were the ends of the network with heavy emphasis on service between Florida and the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast.

1960s

With the award of traffic rights on the southern transcontinental route on March 11, 1961, National Airlines gained access to California and began operating new

Douglas DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USA ...

s between Florida and Los Angeles and San Francisco with a number of flights stopping in Houston and/or New OrleansMarch 2, 1962 National timetable
/ref> (previously,

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its ...

and National had together operated

s and DC-7s through between Miami and California). In March 1962, National scheduled one round trip transcontinental nonstop: National flights 34 and 35 between Miami and Los Angeles on DC-8s. Concerning international destinations in Central and South America, a cooperation involving interchange flights with

was set up.1962 National Airlines timetable, at timetableimages.com
/ref> In the early 1960s National started new service with the Lockheed Electra propjet to Las Vegas and San Diego. Eastbound coast to coast routes flown with the Electra included San Diego-Los Angeles-Houston-New Orleans-Miami and San Francisco-Las Vegas-Houston-New Orleans-Tampa-Orlando-Jacksonville. National had other long, multistop routings with the Electra such as Boston-New York City-Jacksonville-Orlando-Tampa-New Orleans-Houston-Las Vegas-San Francisco. National flight 223 departed Boston at 7:30am and arrived in San Francisco at 8:42pm. In 1962 Louis Bergman "Bud" Maytag, Jr. (grandson of

Maytag The Maytag Corporation is an American Home appliance, home and commercial appliance company. The company has been owned by Whirlpool Corporation since April 2006. History The Maytag Washing Machine Company was founded in 1893 by businessm ...

Corporation founder

Frederick Louis Maytag I Frederick Louis Maytag I (July 14, 1857 – March 26, 1937) also known as F. L. Maytag, founded the Maytag Company, which eventually became the Maytag Corporation and in turn was acquired by the Whirlpool Corporation in 2006. Birth Maytag w ...

), who had previously led

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines, Inc. is a major American ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 120 destinations in the United States, Caribbean, Mexico and Central America, and employs more than 5,000 staff. ...

bought a majority share in National Airlines and replaced George T. Baker as CEO. In 1960 the airline modernized its fleet with new

s, followed by ten new Boeing 727-100 trijets, the first of which was delivered in 1964. After the retirement of the Electras in 1968, National became an all-jet airline with the DC-8 and 727. The airline introduced the first jet service into Key West, FL in 1968 with the Boeing 727-100. The Douglas DC-8 fleet included the stretched Super DC-8-61 which was the largest aircraft type operated by the airline until the introduction of new wide body jetliners such as the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

and

McDonnell Douglas DC-10 The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American trijet wide-body aircraft manufactured by McDonnell Douglas. The DC-10 was intended to succeed the Douglas DC-8, DC-8 for long-Range (aeronautics), range flights. It first flew on August 29, 1970; i ...

. In 1969 National flew the Super DC-8 nonstop between Miami and New York JFK airport and nonstop between Miami and Los Angeles, flights having names such as "The Royal Biscayne", "The Royal Dolphin", "The Gotham" and "The Manhattan" between Miami and New York, and "The Californian" and "The Caribbean" between Miami and Los Angeles. On July 26, 1969, the Atlanta-San Francisco nonstop route was awarded to National and service began on October 1, 1969. It was National's only route out of Atlanta.

1970s

A $17 million IBM electronic computer reservation system, called Res-A-Vision, was completed and put into operation in 1970. On June 16, 1970, National Airlines reintroduced international flights, when their Miami-

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

route opened (flights to Cuba were suspended in 1961 due to the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...

). With the London route, they became the third U.S. transatlantic passenger carrier, after Pan Am and TWA. In the fall of 1970, the

Boeing 747-100 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body aircraft, wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the Boeing 707, 707 in October 1958, Pan Am ...

jumbo jet, at that time the largest commercial airliner, entered service with National on the Miami-New York nonstop route on October 1, 1970, and the Miami-

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

transcontinental nonstop route on October 25, 1970. National sold its 747s in May 1976. Also in 1970, National Airlines opened their own terminal at

John F. Kennedy International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport is a major international airport serving New York City and its metropolitan area. JFK Airport is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is ...

, which was dubbed the '' Sundrome''. Following an order for ten aircraft in 1969, the wide body McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 was put in service on the Miami-New York route on December 15, 1971. A 1971 publicity campaign designed by F. William Free promoting National's flight attendants was criticized by the

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

as being sexist due to the slogan "I'm (flight attendant's name). Fly me.", or similar. Seeing one of these posters in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

inspired

Eric Stewart Eric Michael Stewart (born 20 January 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of ...

10cc 10cc are an English rock music, rock band formed in Stockport, southeast of Manchester, in 1972. The group initially consisted of four musicians, Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, who had written and recorded togethe ...

to write the band's 1976 hit song " I'm Mandy Fly Me". In May 1973, the front cover of the airline's system timetable proudly proclaimed, "National has daily nonstop 747s from Miami to London". By early 1976, the airline was operating scheduled wide body DC-10 service to Houston (IAH), Las Vegas (LAS), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New Orleans (MSY), Orlando (MCO), San Diego (SAN), San Francisco (SFO), Tampa (TPA), West Palm Beach (PBI) and all three airports in the New York City area: John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR). With the advent of the intercontinental McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30, National Airlines then expanded their European network by adding

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

(inaugurated on June 22, 1977), as well as

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

(both in 1978) and

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

(in 1979). National began the very first nonstop flights from New Orleans to Europe (to Amsterdam) on July 2, 1978. National then began nonstop New York Kennedy (JFK)-Amsterdam flights on December 13, 1978, taking the route over from Pan Am. National was criticized in 1974 by the

Civil Aeronautics Board The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) was an agency of the federal government of the United States, formed in 1940 from a split of the Civil Aeronautics Authority and abolished in 1985, that regulated aviation services (including scheduled passe ...

for giving preferential treatment to

Rudy Vallée Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, saxophonist, bandleader, actor, and entertainer. He was the first male singer to rise from local radio broadcasts in New York Ci ...

, allowing him to travel between Los Angeles and Florida with more than 20 bags without charges for excess baggage. In 1975, National was forced to shut down for several months due to a strike by flight attendants. In the late 1970s, several airlines attempted to take over National Airlines, which had become a major player in the southern transcontinental and Florida-East Coast airline markets. In 1978,

Texas International Airlines Texas International Airlines Inc. was a United States local service carrier, known from 1940 until 1947 as Aviation Enterprises, until 1969 as Trans-Texas Airways (TTA), and as Texas International Airlines until 1982, when it merged with Contine ...

(which was led by

Frank Lorenzo Francisco Anthony "Frank" Lorenzo (born May 19, 1940) is an American businessman. He managed Continental Airlines and Texas International Airlines between 1972 and 1990, through airline deregulation. Lorenzo also led the creation and management ...

at that time) acquired 24.6 percent of the shares, but did not succeed in the subsequent

tender offer In corporate finance, a tender offer is a type of public takeover bid. The tender offer is a public, open offer or invitation (usually announced in a newspaper advertisement) by a prospective acquirer to all stockholders of a publicly traded corp ...

takeover bid. A similar attempt was made by

Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines (also colloquially known as Eastern) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution, it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade ...

in 1979. At the same time, the shares held by Texas International were sold to

, who emerged as a

white knight A white knight is a mythological figure and literary stock character. They are portrayed alongside a black knight as diametric opposites. A white knight usually represents a heroic warrior fighting against evil, with the role in medieval literatu ...

and succeeded in accumulating a controlling majority.

Acquisition by Pan Am

On January 7, 1980, the acquisition of National was completed, with

taking over the National Airlines fleet and route network. Pan Am continued to utilize the former National Miami maintenance base and headquarters building until Pan Am itself ceased operations in December 1991. Much later, National's "Sun King" logo was sold and repackaged, much like Pan Am's, to start-up

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier (LCC) or low-cost airline, also called a budget, or discount carrier or airline, is an airline that is operated with an emphasis on minimizing operating costs. It sacrifices certain traditional airline luxuries for cheaper fa ...

Southeast Airlines, which used it on the tail of its aircraft. Most industry analysts believe that Pan Am paid too high a price for National, and was ill-prepared to integrate National's domestic route network with Pan Am's own globe-girdling international network. The cultures of National and Pan Am also proved to be incompatible, making workforce integration difficult. Texas International walked away from their foiled attempt with a multi-million dollar stock profit and was poised for Lorenzo's next ventures—a startup airline in the high-density East Coast corridor (

New York Air New York Air was a low-cost airline in the United States owned by Texas Air Corporation and based at Hangar 5 at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, Queens, New York. It ceased operations on February 1, 1987, in a merger with Continental Airlines. ...

), and subsequent acquisition of

Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continen ...

Route network

National Airlines operated scheduled flights to the following U.S. cities: National also operated scheduled flights to the following destinations in Europe and the Caribbean:

Fleet

When National Airlines was acquired by Pan Am in 1980, the fleet consisted of 43

Boeing 727 The Boeing 727 is an American Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner that was developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After the heavier Boeing 707, 707 quad-jet was introduced in 1958, Boeing addressed the demand for shorter ...

aircraft (19 of the original series 100 model and 24 of the stretched series 200 variant), as well as 16

airliners (11 of the series 10 model used in domestic service and five of the intercontinental series 30 model used for service to Europe). Over the years, National owned the following aircraft types:

Sun King Club

Domestic

* Fort Lauderdale * Houston * Miami * Jacksonville * Los Angeles * New Orleans * New York (Kennedy) * New York (LaGuardia) * Newark * Orlando * San Francisco * Tampa * Washington (National) * West Palm Beach

International

* Amsterdam * Frankfurt * London (Heathrow) * Paris (Orly)

Accidents and incidents

Fatal

*On October 5, 1945, National Airlines Flight 16, a

( registered NC18199) crashed into a lake near

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4, I-4 east of Tampa and southwest of Orlando, Florida, Orlando, it is the List of municipalities in Florida, most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 ...

at 01:05 local time. The scheduled passenger flight had originated in

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, when the pilots encountered technical problems during approach of Lakeland Airport, which led to a failed

go-around In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on Final_approach_(aeronautics), final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for var ...

attempt. Of the 15 people on board, two passengers died.Accident report of National Airlines Flight 16 at the Aviation Safety Network
*On January 14, 1951, 6 of the 28 passengers on board Flight 83 died when the aircraft, a Douglas DC-4 (registered N74685), overshot the runway and crashed into a ditch at Philadelphia International Airport. The pilots of the flight from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

had tried to land the aircraft too far down the runway, instead of aborting the approach. Frankie Housley, the only stewardess, also died. She has been regarded as a hero, as she had returned to the burning wreckage to lead passengers to safety. *On February 11, 1952, Flight 101, a

, crashed shortly after take-off from Newark Airport due to a failure of a propeller and subsequent loss of control. Of the 59 passengers on board, 26 died, as well as three of the four crew members. Four people on the ground were killed. *With 46 fatalities (5 crew and 41 passengers, among them Billy DeBeck's widow), the disaster of Flight 470 on February 14, 1953, marks the worst accident in the history of National Airlines. The aircraft, a DC-6 registered N90893, crashed into the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

off Mobile Point en route from Tampa to

, after having encountered severe turbulence. *On November 16, 1959, at 00:55 local time, a Douglas DC-7 (registered N4891C) crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, the cause of which could not be determined. The 36 passengers and six crew aboard Flight 967 from Tampa to New Orleans died in the accident off the coast of Pilottown, Louisiana.Accident report of National Airlines Flight 967 at the Aviation Safety Network
/ref> *On January 6, 1960, a bomb exploded aboard the DC-6 registered N8225H Flight 2511 en route from New York to Miami. In the subsequent crash near Bolivia, North Carolina, all 29 passengers and five crew died. One of the passengers, who was under criminal investigation, is suspected of committing a suicide bombing. *On November 3, 1973, a

(registered N60NA) suffered an

uncontained engine failure A turbine engine failure occurs when a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine unexpectedly stops producing Power (physics), power due to a malfunction other than fuel exhaustion. It often applies for aircraft, but other turbine engines can also fail, ...

over Datil, New Mexico while operating as Flight 27 from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. Pieces of the turbine penetrated the fuselage, breaking a window in the passenger cabin and causing subsequent decompression. One passenger was sucked out of the aircraft and died. The flight made a successful emergency landing at Albuquerque. Nationalcrash

*On May 8, 1978, at 21:20 local time, Flight 193 went down in Escambia Bay near

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

, in deep water. Of the 52 passengers aboard the Boeing 727 registered N4744, three died. The pilots had attempted to land the aircraft at Pensacola International Airport.

Non-fatal

*On September 13, 1945, a National Airlines Lockheed Lodestar (registered NC33349) overshot the runway at Peter O. Knight Airport near Tampa in rainy weather and came to a rest in the water of Hillsborough Bay. There were eleven passengers and three crew members on board the scheduled flight from Miami. *On October 11, 1945, another Lodestar (NC15555) was involved in a hull-loss accident. The pilots of Flight 23 from

to Miami with 14 passengers aboard experienced an engine fire and attempted an emergency landing at

Melbourne Airport Melbourne Airport , known locally as Tullamarine Airport, is an international airport serving Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operating 24/7 service, 24 hours a day with on-site parking, shopping and dining, Melbourne Airport is the List of th ...

. The approach was missed, but the pilots did not manage to pull the aircraft up, so it impacted the ground. *On October 2, 1950, a cargo-configured

Curtiss C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a low-wing, twin-engine aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurized high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company p ...

(registered N1661M) was substantially damaged in a belly landing at Washington National Airport. *On January 10, 1955, at 09:38, Flight 1 with ten passengers and three crew veered off the runway during a takeoff attempt at St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport. The copilot had lost control of the Lockheed Lodestar (registered N33369) that had been bound for Sarasota. *On November 15, 1961, at 17:10, National Airlines Flight 429 (a DC-6 registered N8228H) collided with Northeast Airlines Flight 120 (a

Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount is a retired British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. T ...

) on the ground at

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. The pilots of the National aircraft with 25 passengers aboard had commenced with the takeoff run without having been cleared to do so, hitting the landing Northeast plane.

Hijackings

Between 1961 and 1980, 22 (attempted) hijackings on board National Airlines occurred, which involved the aircraft being demanded to be flown to Cuba. In 1969 alone, there were nine such occurrences. These events can be partly attributed to the tense

Cuba–United States relations Modern diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States are cold, stemming from historic conflict and divergent political ideologies. The two nations restored diplomatic relations on July 20, 2015, after relations had been severed in 196 ...

at that time, and the many flights of National Airlines in and to the southeastern United States, near Cuba. See List of Cuba – United States aircraft hijackings for more information. There were several other criminal acts involving National Airlines aircraft: *On March 8, 1971, a hijacker on board Flight 745, a Boeing 727 with 46 occupants en route from Mobile to New Orleans, demanded the aircraft be flown to Canada instead. *On July 12, 1972, Michael Stanley Green and Ethiopian national Lulseged Tesfa hijacked National Airlines Flight 496 (a Boeing 727) while en route to New York from Philadelphia. *On March 30, 1974, following a hostage taking in Sarasota, the perpetrator tried to hijack a parked National Airlines 727 at Sarasota-Brandenton Airport, but was prevented from doing so by a flight engineer. A similar hijacking attempt happened on January 3, 1975, at Pensacola Airport.Report of the 1975 National Airlines hijacking at the Aviation Safety Network
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:National Airlines (Na) Airlines established in 1934 Airlines disestablished in 1980 Pan Am Companies based in Miami-Dade County, Florida Defunct airlines of the United States Defunct companies based in Florida 1980 mergers and acquisitions 1934 establishments in Florida 1980 disestablishments in Florida