Northeast Airlines Flight 258

Northeast Airlines Flight 258 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from New York's La Guardia Airport that crashed while trying to land at Nantucket Memorial Airport, Massachusetts, at 11:34 on the night of August 15, 1958. All three crew-members and 20 of the 31 passengers were killed, among them Gordon Dean, former chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission.[1][2]

Northeast Airlines Flight 258
A Convair CV-240 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
DateAugust 15, 1958 (1958-08-15)
SummaryPilot error
SiteNear Nantucket Memorial Airport, Massachusetts
41.2632°N 70.0544°W / 41.2632; -70.0544
Aircraft
Aircraft typeConvair CV-240
OperatorNortheast Airlines
RegistrationN90670
Flight originLa Guardia Airport, New York City
DestinationNantucket Memorial Airport
Passengers31
Crew3
Fatalities25
Injuries9
Survivors9

The accident aircraft, a Convair 240 operated by Northeast Airlines, commenced a non-precision VOR approach to the uncontrolled airport despite the fact that visibility, at one-eighth of a mile in fog, was below the legal minimum required for such an approach. The aircraft flew into the ground a third of a mile short of the Runway 24 threshold and some 600 feet to the right of the extended centre-line.[3] A post-crash fire ensued; most survivors as well as many of the dead were ejected from the wreckage.[4][5]

A Civil Aeronautics Board investigation found that the captain of the aircraft failed to acknowledge transmissions warning him of the deteriorating weather conditions in the minutes before the crash. The CAB also criticised Northeast's training and operational procedures, noting deficiencies in aircrew proficiency, recordkeeping and monitoring of company radio frequencies.[6]

References
  1. Walsh, Robert (August 17, 1958). "Air Safety Probe Demanded for N.E.: Nantucket Crash Toll Rises to 23; 11 Survive". The Boston Daily Globe.
  2. "Gordon Dean, 52, Was Truman Aide; Victim in Nantucket Crash Headed A.E.C. for 3 Years" New York Times Aug 17, 1958 link
  3. "ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-240-2 N90670 Nantucket Memorial Airport, MA (ACK)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  4. Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, August 16, 1958
  5. "19 on airliner killed in crash at Nantucket"; New York Times, August 19, 1958
  6. Lewiston (ME) Daily News, March 27, 1959


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