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Eastern Air Lines Flight 304, a Douglas DC-8 flying from New Orleans International Airport to Washington Dulles International Airport, crashed on February 25, 1964. All 51 passengers and 7 crew were killed. Among the dead were American singer and actor Kenneth Spencer and Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux, a women's and human rights activist and member of the French delegation to the United Nations.

Eastern Air Lines Flight 304
A Douglas DC-8 of Eastern Air Lines, similar to the aircraft involved in the accident
Occurrence
DateFebruary 25, 1964
SummaryPitch Trim Failure
SiteLake Pontchartrain, near New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Aircraft
Aircraft typeDouglas DC-8
OperatorEastern Air Lines
RegistrationN8607[1]
Flight originMexico City International Airport
1st stopoverNew Orleans International Airport
2nd stopoverAtlanta International Airport
3rd stopoverDulles International Airport
DestinationJohn F. Kennedy International Airport
Occupants58
Passengers51
Crew7
Fatalities58
Survivors0

Sequence of events


Flight 304 left New Orleans International Airport for Atlanta at 2:01 a.m. Central Standard Time on the second leg of a flight from Mexico City to New York City, with intermediate stops at New Orleans, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C. The aircraft disappeared from radar nine minutes after takeoff, at 2:10 a.m. Good visibility and calm winds prevailed at the time of the accident, although light rain was also falling. The Coast Guard and other searchers spotted wreckage hours later around dawn in Lake Pontchartrain, about 20 miles (32 km) northeast of New Orleans.[2][3]


Investigation


The subsequent investigation concluded that the jet crashed into Lake Pontchartrain en route due to "degradation of aircraft stability characteristics in turbulence, because of abnormal longitudinal trim component positions."[4]

At least 32 of the passengers were making the through trip. Fourteen got on in New Orleans, while 14 were pass-riding Eastern employees. The four-engined plane, capable of carrying 126 passengers, was due in Atlanta at 3:59 a.m., at Dulles Airport in Washington at 5:53 a.m. and at Kennedy Airport in New York at 7:10 a.m.

The victims included Marie-Hélène Lefaucheux, a member of the French delegation to the United Nations, who was active in women's and human rights activities of the world body. The pilot...with Eastern 21 years, had flown over five million miles. The co-pilot...had almost two million miles on his flight log.

Coast Guard recovered parts of the wreckage, clothing, luggage and what was described as bits of bodies from a wide spread area centered 6 miles (10 km) south of the north shore of the lake and about 4 miles (6 km) east of the 23-mile (37 km)-long Lake Pontchartrain causeway. A [United States] Coast Guard pilot said there were indications that the plane had exploded either in the air or on impact. Eastern said that the crew had made the routine checks after take-off and that no alarm had been given. An experienced Eastern pilot said the jet had probably reached a height of 16,000 feet shortly after it had got over the lake.

The New York Times, February 26, 1964

The water was only 20 feet (6 m) deep, yet only 60 percent of the wreckage was recovered because the breakup was so extensive.

The flight data recorder tape was too damaged to help the investigation. Instead, investigators used the maintenance records of the crashed aircraft and of other DC-8s, to conclude that the pilots had trimmed the horizontal stabilizer to the full nose-down position, to counter the excessive nose-up attitude that, in turn, was caused by a malfunctioning pitch trim compensator that had extended too far. Once the upset occurred, it was not possible to trim the horizontal stabilizer back to the nose-up position, because of the severe G-forces generated by the crew's pulling back on the yoke after the upset.[2]


Victims


American singer Kenneth Spencer was also killed in the crash.


See also



References


  1. "FAA Registry (N8607)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  2. "Aircraft Accident Report: Eastern Airlines, Inc., Douglas DC-8, N8607, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 25, 1964" (PDF). Civil Aeronautics Board. June 27, 1966. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
  3. "58 ON JET KILLED IN CRASH IN LAKE AT NEW ORLEANS". The New York Times. February 26, 1964. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  4. Haines, Edgar (2000), Disaster in the Air, New York: Cornwall Books, p. 157, ISBN 0-8453-4777-2



На других языках


[de] Eastern-Air-Lines-Flug 304

In den frühen Morgenstunden des 25. Februar 1964 stürzte eine Douglas DC-8 auf dem Eastern-Air-Lines-Flug 304 etwa 30 Kilometer nordöstlich von New Orleans in den Lake Pontchartrain. Alle 58 Insassen kamen bei dem Unfall ums Leben.[1][2]
- [en] Eastern Air Lines Flight 304

[it] Volo Eastern Air Lines 304

Il volo Eastern Air Lines 304 era un volo di linea della Eastern Air Lines operato il 25 febbraio 1964 da un Douglas DC-8 tra l'Aeroporto di Città del Messico e destinazione New York con scali intermedi a New Orleans, Atlanta e Washington. Poco dopo il decollo da New Orleans precipitò nel lago Pontchartrain provocando la morte delle 58 persone a bordo[1].

[ru] Катастрофа DC-8 под Новым Орлеаном

Катастрофа DC-8 под Новым Орлеаном — крупная авиационная катастрофа пассажирского самолёта DC-8-21 американской авиакомпании Eastern Air Lines, произошедшая в ночь на вторник 25 февраля 1964 года. Авиалайнер выполнял пассажирский рейс EA304 по маршруту Мехико—Новый Орлеан—Атланта—Вашингтон—Нью-Йорк, но через несколько минут после вылета из Нового Орлеана рухнул в озеро Пончартрейн, при этом погибли 58 человек.



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