1967 — July 19, Piedmont flight 22 (79) & Cessna 310 (3) collide, Hendersonville, NC — 82
— 82 AirDisaster.Com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 07191967.
— 82 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. 2006
— 82 Kimura. World Commercial Aircraft Accidents 3rd Ed., 1946-1993, V.1. 4-11-1994, p. 2-8.
— 82 NationMaster.com, Encyclopedia, List of Notable Accidents and Incidents Com. Aircraft
— 82 NTSB. Aircraft Accident Report 1-0, Piedmont Aviation…Cessna. Sep 5, 1968.
–79 Piedmont flight 22
— 3 Cessna 310
Narrative Information
AirDisaster.com: “The aircraft crashed after colliding with a private Cessna 310 approximately 8 nautical miles north-east of the Ashville, North Carolina, Airport. The Cessna had deviated from its IFR clearance. 79 killed aboard the 727, 3 aboard the Cessna.” (Airdisaster.com. Synopsis 07191967.)
NationMaster: “July 19 – Piedmont Airlines Flight 22, a Boeing 727 departing from Asheville, North Carolina, crashes shortly after departure after a mid-air collision with a twin-engine Cessna 310 on instrument approach to Asheville. All 82 passengers and crew on both aircraft die.” (NationMaster.com, Encyclopedia, List of Notable Accidents & Incidents Commercial Aircraft)
NTSB: “On July 19, 1967, at 1201:18 e.d.t., Piedmont Airlines Flight 22…and a Cessna 310…were involved in a midair collision at an altitude of 6,132 feet in the vicinity of Hendersonville, North Carolina, approximately 8 miles southeast of the Asheville Municipal Airport. All occupants of the Boeing727, five crewmembers and 74 passengers, and the three occupants of the Cessna received fatal injuries. The two aircraft were destroyed by collision forces, ground impact and ensuing fire.” (NTSB. AAR. Piedmont Aviation…Cessna. Sep 5 1968, Synopsis, p. 1)
“The Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the deviation of the Cessna from its IFR clearance resulting in a flightpath into airspace allocated to the Piedmont Boeing 727. The reason for such deviation cannot be specifically or positively identified. The minimum control procedures utilized by the FAA in the handling of the Cessna were a contributing factor.” (NTSB. AAR. Piedmont Air…Cessna. Sep 5 1968 Synopsis, p. 2)
ASN: “This was the first major airline accident investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB’s report placed the primary responsibility for the accident on the Cessna pilot, while citing air traffic control procedures as a contributing factor, and recommended a review of minimum pilot skill levels required for instrument flight….
“In 2006, however, 38 years after the accident, the NTSB agreed to reopen the investigation because of apparent irregularities identified by Paul Houle, an amateur historian who spent several years studying the accident. Houle noted the following problems with the NTSB’s original investigation:
• The original NTSB report omitted the fact that the Cessna pilot had properly reported his heading, which should have alerted air traffic control to a potential conflict between the two planes. The report claims that there was a four-second pause at that point, but the transcript shows no such pause.
• The original NTSB report does not mention that there was a fire in a cockpit ashtray in the 727, which (as shown by the cockpit voice recorder transcript) occupied the attention of the 727 crew for the 35 seconds before the collision.
• The lead NTSB investigator had an apparent conflict of interest, since his brother was a vice president and director of Piedmont Airlines.
NationMaster: “….Houle also mentioned that, at the time, the newly-formed NTSB was not fully independent of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), since both reported to the Department of Transportation. Houle claimed that these conflicts of interest led the NTSB to avoid citing either Piedmont or FAA controllers as primary causes of the accident.” (NationMaster.com, Encyclopedia, “Piedmont Airlines Flight 22”)
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Sources
AirDisaster.Com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 07191967. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=07191967®=N68650&airline=Piedmont+Airlines
Aviation Safety Network. Database. “Wednesday 19 July 1967…12:01…Boeing 727-22…Piedmont Airlines…” Flight Safety Investigation. Accessed 4-8-2020 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19670719-0
Kimura, Chris Y. World Commercial Aircraft Accidents 3rd Edition, 1946-1993, Volume 1: Jet and Turboprop Aircrafts. Livermore, CA: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Risk Assessment and Nuclear Engineering Group. 4-11-1994.
National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Piedmont Aviation, Inc. Piedmont Airlines Division, Boeing 727, N68650 Lanseair Inc., Cessna 310, N3121S Midair Collision, Hendersonville, North Carolina July 19, 1967. Washington, DC: NTSB, September 5, 1968, 56 pages. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR68-AJ.pdf
NationMaster.com. Encyclopedia. “List of Notable Accidents and Incidents on Commercial Aircraft.” Accessed 12-15-2008 at: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/List-of-notable-accidents-and-incidents-on-commercial-aircraft