American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D

American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D
	An American Flyers L-188 at Lindbergh Field (1963)
Accident
Date	April 22, 1966
Summary	Pilot incapacitation
Site	2.4 km northeast of Ardmore Municipal Airport, United States
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Lockheed L-188C Electra
Operator	American Flyers Airline
Registration	N183H[1]
Flight origin	Monterey Regional Airport, United States
Destination	Ardmore Municipal Airport, United States
Occupants	98
Passengers	93
Crew	5
Fatalities	83
Injuries	15
Survivors	15

American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D was a flight operated on a U.S. Military Air Command contract from Monterey Regional Airport in California to Columbus Airport in Georgia, via Ardmore Municipal Airport, Oklahoma. On April 22, 1966, while approaching Runway 8 at Ardmore, the aircraft overshot the runway and crashed into a hill, bursting into flames.[2] Eighty-three of the 98 passengers and crew on board died as a result of the accident.[3]

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Lockheed L-188 Electra four-engined turboprop airline registered as N183H.[4] It had first flown in January 1961 and was bought by American Flyers Airline in January 1963.[5] It is the same plane that carried the Beatles from city to city in 1964 during their second tour of the U.S.[6]

Investigation

The U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) investigated the accident.[1]^: 1[7]

Investigators found no evidence of mechanical failure or defect. Some days after the crash, it was learned that the pilot, Reed Pigman, who also happened to be the president of American Flyers, was under care for arteriosclerosis.[8] An autopsy of Pigman determined his cause of death to either be multiple injuries or coronary artery sclerosis.[9]

It was also determined that Reed Pigman had falsified his application for a first-class medical certificate. He had not disclosed that he was diabetic or that he had a history of heart issues dating back almost two decades; either of these would have been disqualifying factors for the certificate.[10]

On March 28, 1967, the CAB published its final report. The CAB determined that the probable cause for the accident was:

[T]he incapacitation, due to a coronary insufficiency, of the pilot-in-command at a critical point during visual, circling approach being conducted under instrument flight conditions.[1]^: 1

References

"Aircraft Accident Report, American Flyers Airline Corporation L-188C, N183H, Near Ardmore Municipal Airport, Ardmore, Oklahoma, April 22, 1966" (PDF). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 28, 1967. Retrieved February 4, 2020.
"Investigators Seek Cause of Air Crash Fatal to 81". No. 102 (City ed.). Eugene, Oregon: Eugene Register-Guard. 23 April 1966. p. 1A. Retrieved 23 November 2020 – via Associated Press. The plane was on a cross-country flight from Fort Ord, Calif., to Fort Benning, Ga., and its 92 passengers were Army recruits who had recently completed basic training.
"Crash of a Lockheed L-188C Electra in Ardmore: 83 killed | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives". www.baaa-acro.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
"ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-188C Electra N183H Ardmore Municipal Airport, OK (ADM)". Aviation-safety.net. 1966-04-22. Retrieved 2012-12-22.
Eastwood, Tony (1990). Turbo Prop Airliner Production List. The Aviation Hobby Shop. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-907178-32-3.
"The Beatles and a man named Pigman".
Johns, Paul. "The Beatles and a man named Pigman". MarshfieldMail.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
"Pilot involved in fatal crash had ailment." United Press International at The Times-News (Hendersonville, North Carolina). Saturday May 14, 1966. Volume 91, No. 115. Page 1. Retrieved from Google Books (1 of 6) on December 22, 2012.
"Autopsy rates heart ailment as advanced." United Press International at The Altus Times-Democrat. Thursday May 26, 1966. Volume 40, No. 101. Page 1. Retrieved from Google Books (1 of 14) on December 22, 2012.
Gero, David (1996). Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 70.

34.3294°N 96.9819°W / 34.3294; -96.9819

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[CAB_Report_SA-392-1] "Aircraft Accident Report, American Flyers Airline Corporation L-188C, N183H, Near Ardmore Municipal Airport, Ardmore, Oklahoma, April 22, 1966" (PDF). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 28, 1967. Retrieved February 4, 2020.

[2] "Investigators Seek Cause of Air Crash Fatal to 81". No. 102 (City ed.). Eugene, Oregon: Eugene Register-Guard. 23 April 1966. p. 1A. Retrieved 23 November 2020 – via Associated Press. The plane was on a cross-country flight from Fort Ord, Calif., to Fort Benning, Ga., and its 92 passengers were Army recruits who had recently completed basic training.

[3] "Crash of a Lockheed L-188C Electra in Ardmore: 83 killed | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives". www.baaa-acro.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.

[accidentreport-4] "ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-188C Electra N183H Ardmore Municipal Airport, OK (ADM)". Aviation-safety.net. 1966-04-22. Retrieved 2012-12-22.

[5] Eastwood, Tony (1990). Turbo Prop Airliner Production List. The Aviation Hobby Shop. p. 321. ISBN 978-0-907178-32-3.

[6] "The Beatles and a man named Pigman".

[7] Johns, Paul. "The Beatles and a man named Pigman". MarshfieldMail.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.

[8] "Pilot involved in fatal crash had ailment." United Press International at The Times-News (Hendersonville, North Carolina). Saturday May 14, 1966. Volume 91, No. 115. Page 1. Retrieved from Google Books (1 of 6) on December 22, 2012.

[9] "Autopsy rates heart ailment as advanced." United Press International at The Altus Times-Democrat. Thursday May 26, 1966. Volume 40, No. 101. Page 1. Retrieved from Google Books (1 of 14) on December 22, 2012.

[10] Gero, David (1996). Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 70.

Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1960s
1960	National Airlines Flight 2511 Capital Airlines Flight 20 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 710 Chicago Helicopter Airways Flight 698 World Airways Flight 830 Eastern Air Lines Flight 375 Cal Poly football team New York mid-air collision
1961	Goldsboro B-52 American Airlines Flight 1502 Yuba City B-52 United Air Lines Flight 859 Alaska Airlines Flight 779 TWA Flight 529 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 Cincinnati Zantop DC-4
1962	American Airlines Flight 1 Continental Airlines Flight 11 Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 301 United Air Lines Flight 297 Eastern Air Lines Flight 512
1963	Elephant Mountain B-52 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705 Camden PA-24 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112 Pan Am Flight 214
1964	Savage Mountain B-52 Eastern Air Lines Flight 304 Paradise Airlines Flight 901A Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 United Air Lines Flight 823 Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114 Flying Tiger Line Flight 282
1965	USAF KC-135 Wichita Eastern Air Lines Flight 663 Pan Am Flight 843 Continental Airlines Flight 12 Allegheny Airlines Flight 604 United Air Lines Flight 389 American Airlines Flight 383 United Air Lines Flight 227 Carmel mid-air (Eastern 853, TWA 42)
1966	NASA T-38 American Flyers Airline Flight 280/D Braniff International Airways Flight 250 West Coast Airlines Flight 956
1967	Lake Central Airlines Flight 527 TWA Flight 553 West Coast Airlines Flight 720 Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 Piedmont Airlines Flight 22 TWA Flight 159 X-15 Flight 3-65-97 TWA Flight 128
1968	Ozark Air Lines Flight 965 Braniff International Airways Flight 352 Los Angeles Airways Flight 841 Los Angeles Airways Flight 417 Northeast Airlines Flight 946 Japan Air Lines Flight 2 Pan Am Flight 281 Wien Consolidated Airlines Flight 55 Allegheny Airlines Flight 736 Pan Am Flight 799 North Central Airlines Flight 458 Ozark Air Lines Flight 982
1969	Allegheny Airlines Flight 737 Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 933 United Air Lines Flight 266 Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 Prinair Flight 277 Delta Air Lines Flight 821 TWA Flight 5787 Newton Cessna 172 crash Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 Mohawk Airlines Flight 411
This list is incomplete.