American Airlines Flight 723
Encyclopedia
American Airlines Flight 723 was a scheduled American Airlines
flight from Boston Airport
in Massachusetts
, to Chicago Midway Airport in Illinois. On September 16, 1953, a Convair 240
propliner
flying this route crashed while attempting to land at Albany Airport
in upstate New York
.
propliner
flying this route arrived at Bradley Field from Boston Airport at 6:57 am. At that time, Weather at Albany was below airline landing minimums, 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 theirs in a holding pattern. They 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
cloud ceiling
estimated at 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) above the airport. Horizontal visibility was 3/4 mi, obscured by fog
. Two aircraft left the holding pattern
, making attempts to land, but both made missed approach
es. A third landed at 8:16 following an instrument approach
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.
At 8:30, the Albany control tower
reported:"All aircraft holding Albany. It now appears to be pretty good for a contact approach
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
, while still miles west of the airport, the Convair descended too low, and, at an altitude of 308 feet (93.9 m), struck a set of three 365 feet (111.3 m)-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
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 1590 feet (484.6 m) 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
on the Albany-Schenectady road. All 28 occupants on board (25 passengers, 2 pilots, and a flight attendant
) 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 1+1/2 mi in fog.
The Civil Aeronautics Board investigated the accident and issued a report wherein they identified the probable cause
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."
in Florida
to La Chinita International Airport
in Maracaibo
, Zulia
state, Venezuela
.
American Airlines
American Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
flight from Boston Airport
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways...
in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, to Chicago Midway Airport in Illinois. On September 16, 1953, a Convair 240
Convair 240
The Convair CV-240 was an American airliner produced by Convair from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement of the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. While featuring a more modern design, the 240 series was able to make some inroads as a commercial airliner and also had a long development cycle...
propliner
Propliner
A propliner is a large, propeller-driven airliner. Typically, the term is used for piston-powered airliners that flew before the beginning of the jet age, not for modern turbine-powered propeller airliners...
flying this route crashed while attempting to land at Albany Airport
Albany International Airport
Albany International Airport is a public use airport located six nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Albany, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is owned by the Albany County Airport Authority....
in upstate New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Route of flight
| City | Boston Boston Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had... , MA Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010... |
Hartford Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making... , CT Connecticut Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately... |
Albany Albany, New York Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River... , NY New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... |
Syracuse Syracuse, New York Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603... , NY New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... |
Rochester Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City... , NY New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... |
Buffalo Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the... , NY New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... |
Detroit Detroit, Michigan Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River... , MI Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".... |
Chicago Chicago Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles... , IL Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airport | Boston Airport Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport is located in the East Boston neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts . It covers , has six runways, and employs an estimated 16,000 people. It is the 19th busiest airport in the United States.Boston serves as a focus city for JetBlue Airways... |
Bradley International Airport Bradley International Airport Bradley International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Windsor Locks on the border with East Granby and Suffield, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the State of Connecticut.... |
Albany Airport Albany International Airport Albany International Airport is a public use airport located six nautical miles northwest of the central business district of Albany, in Albany County, New York, United States. It is owned by the Albany County Airport Authority.... |
Syracuse Hancock Airport Syracuse Hancock International Airport Syracuse Hancock International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located northeast of Syracuse, in Onondaga County, New York, off of Interstate 81 near Mattydale, New York. The main terminal complex is located at the eastern end of Colonel Eileen Collins Boulevard.-History:In 1927... |
Rochester Monroe County Airport Greater Rochester International Airport Greater Rochester International Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located three nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Rochester, a city in Monroe County, New York, United States... |
Buffalo Municipal Airport Buffalo Niagara International Airport Buffalo Niagara International Airport is an airport located in Cheektowaga CDP, Town of Cheektowaga, in Erie County, New York, USA. It is named after the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The airport serves Buffalo, New York as well as Southern Ontario, Canada... |
Willow Run Airport Willow Run Airport Willow Run Airport is an airport located in Van Buren Charter Township and in Ypsilanti Township, near Ypsilanti, Michigan, that serves freight, corporate, and general aviation clients... |
Midway Airport |
| Segment Distance |
91 miles (146.4 km) | 80 miles (128.7 km) | 119 miles (191.5 km) | 78 miles (125.5 km) | 55 miles (88.5 km) | 249 miles (400.7 km) | 218 miles (350.8 km) | |
| Total Distance |
91 miles (146.4 km) | 171 miles (275.2 km) | 290 miles (466.7 km) | 368 miles (592.2 km) | 423 miles (680.8 km) | 672 miles (1,081.5 km) | 890 miles (1,432.3 km) | |
The crash
On September 16, 1953, a Convair 240Convair 240
The Convair CV-240 was an American airliner produced by Convair from 1947 to 1954, initially as a possible replacement of the ubiquitous Douglas DC-3. While featuring a more modern design, the 240 series was able to make some inroads as a commercial airliner and also had a long development cycle...
propliner
Propliner
A propliner is a large, propeller-driven airliner. Typically, the term is used for piston-powered airliners that flew before the beginning of the jet age, not for modern turbine-powered propeller airliners...
flying this route arrived at Bradley Field from Boston Airport at 6:57 am. At that time, Weather at Albany was below airline landing minimums, 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 theirs in a holding pattern. They 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
Overcast or overcast weather, as defined by the World Meteorological Organization, is the meteorological condition of clouds obscuring all of the sky. Overcast, written as "OVC" in the METAR observation, is reported when the cloud cover is observed to equal eight oktas .Sometimes clouds can be...
cloud ceiling
Ceiling (cloud)
- ICAO :The height above the ground or water of the base of the lowest layer of cloud below 6000 meters covering more than halfthe sky.- United Kingdom :...
estimated at 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) above the airport. Horizontal visibility was 3/4 mi, obscured by fog
Fog
Fog is a collection of water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. While fog is a type of stratus cloud, the term "fog" is typically distinguished from the more generic term "cloud" in that fog is low-lying, and the moisture in the fog is often generated...
. Two aircraft left the holding pattern
Holding (aviation)
In aviation, holding is a maneuver designed to delay an aircraft already in flight while keeping it within a specified airspace.-Implementation:...
, making attempts to land, but both made missed approach
Missed approach
Missed approach is an instrument flight rules procedure which is a standard component segment of an instrument approach. Generally, if the pilot flying or the pilot in command determines by the time the aircraft is at the decision height or missed approach point , that the runway or its...
es. A third landed at 8:16 following an instrument approach
Instrument approach
For aircraft operating under instrument flight rules , an instrument approach or instrument approach procedure is a series of predetermined maneuvers for the orderly transfer of an aircraft under instrument flight conditions from the beginning of the initial approach to a landing, or to a point...
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.
At 8:30, the Albany control tower
Control tower
A control tower, or more specifically an Air Traffic Control Tower , is the name of the airport building from which the air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft on and around the airport. Control towers are also used to control the traffic for other forms of transportation such...
reported:"All aircraft holding Albany. It now appears to be pretty good for a contact approach
Contact approach
A Contact Approach is an approach available to aircraft operating on an IFR flight plan, where the pilot may deviate from the published instrument approach procedure and proceed to the destination airport by visual reference to the surface....
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
Final approach (aviation)
A final approach is the last leg in an aircraft's approach to landing. In aviation radio terminology, it is often shortened to "final".In a standard airport landing pattern, which is usually used under visual meteorological conditions , aircraft turn from base leg to final within one to two miles...
, while still miles west of the airport, the Convair descended too low, and, at an altitude of 308 feet (93.9 m), struck a set of three 365 feet (111.3 m)-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
Aileron
Ailerons are hinged flight control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll, which results in a change in heading due to the tilting of the lift vector...
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 1590 feet (484.6 m) 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
Trailer park
A trailer park is a semi-permanent or permanent area for mobile homes or travel trailers. The main reasons for living in such trailer parks are the often lower cost compared to other housing, and the ability to move to a new area more quickly and easily, for example when changing jobs to another...
on the Albany-Schenectady road. All 28 occupants on board (25 passengers, 2 pilots, and a flight attendant
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
) 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 1+1/2 mi in fog.
The Civil Aeronautics Board investigated the accident and issued a report wherein they identified the probable cause
Probable cause
In United States criminal law, probable cause is the standard by which an officer or agent of the law has the grounds to make an arrest, to conduct a personal or property search, or to obtain a warrant for arrest, etc. when criminal charges are being considered. It is also used to refer to the...
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."
Current usage
American Airlines continues to use this flight number, most recently on a route from Miami International AirportMiami International Airport
Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the South Florida area...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
to La Chinita International Airport
La Chinita International Airport
-Accidents and incidents:*On 1 November 1971, Vickers Viscount YV-C-AMZ of Linea Aeropostal Venezolana crashed shortly after take-off. All four people on board were killed....
in Maracaibo
Maracaibo
Maracaibo is a city and municipality located in northwestern Venezuela off the western coast of the Lake Maracaibo. It is the second-largest city in the country after the national capital Caracas and the capital of Zulia state...
, Zulia
Zulia
Zulia State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. In June 30, 2010, it had an estimated population of 3,821,068, giving it the largest population among Venezuela's states. It is located in the northwestern part of the country...
state, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
.