1955 — Dec 21, Eastern Air Lines 642 crash on approach to airport, Jacksonville, FL–all 17
–17 AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 12211955.
–17 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Eastern Air Flight 642, 21 Dec 1955.
–17 CAB. Amended AIR. Eastern Air…Constellation…Jacksonville, Florida, Dec 21, 1955.
Narrative Information
Civil Aeronautics Board: “At 0343, December 21, 1955, a Lockheed Constellation, model L-749A, N 112A, owned by Eastern Air Lines Inc., and operated as Flight 642, crashed during an ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach to runway 5, Imeson Airport, Jacksonville, Florida. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire and all 17 occupants, including the crew of five, were killed.
“Flight 642 originated at Miami, Florida, with its destination Boston, Massachusetts; Jacksonville, Florida, was included as an intermediate stop….Flight 642 was scheduled to depart Miami International Airport at 2340, December 20, but because of the late arrival of an inbound flight using the aircraft involved departure was not made until 0212, December 21….
“Flight 642 contacted Jacksonville approach control when over Sunbeam Intersection (16 miles SSE of Imeson Airport) at 0331 and was cleared for an ILS approach to runway 5. At the same time the Jacksonville weather was given as: “Partial obscurement; visibility one-half mile…. Shortly thereafter the tower controller observed a large flash in the vicinity of the ILS middle marker. Calls to Flight 642 were not acknowledged and an emergency was declared by the controller. It was subsequently learned that N 112A had crashed approximately six-tenths of a mile southwest of the threshold of runway 5.
“Investigation disclosed the main portion of the wreckage to be 212 feet northwest of the ILS middle marker and 3,486 feet southwest of the threshold of runway 5. The time of the accident was established as 0343.
“First impact of the aircraft was with the top of a small pine tree approximately 200 feet below the ILS glide path, 260 feet to the left of the extended centerline of the runway, 4,000 feet from the threshold of runway 5, and 420 feet southwest of the middle marker. This was followed by striking a 50-foot oak tree, the upper 20 feet of which was sheared off. The aircraft settled toward the ground, striking other large trees which disintegrated both wings and a portion of the empennage ….Explosion and fire occurred immediately upon impact….
“It is not unusual, with weather conditions such as existed this day, for pilots during an approach to an airport to find ceilings and visibilities that vary from those reported. These variations may be either on the low or high side. If, on the morning of the accident, Captain McBrien found the visibility to be lower than one-half mile, it would then have been his responsibility to execute a missed-approach procedure….
“The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was that during the final portion of an IIS approach the pilot, for reasons not determinable, either permitted or caused the aircraft to deviate to the left of course and descend below the glide path to an altitude too low to clear ground obstructions.” (CAB. Amended AIR. Eastern Air…Constellation…Jacksonville, Florida, Dec 21, 1955.)
Sources
AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 12211955. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=12211955®=N112A&airline=Eastern+Air+Lines
Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Eastern Air Lines Flight 642, 21 Dec 1955. Accessed 2-21-2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19551221-0
Civil Aeronautics Board, Amended Accident Investigation Report. Eastern Air Lines, Inc., Lockheed L-49A, Constellation N 112A, Jacksonville, Florida, December 21, 1955. Original report released 6-6-1957, amendment released 9-5-1956. Accessed 4-4-2023 at: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/33542