1944 — Feb 10, American Air Flight 2 Crash, Mississippi River near Memphis, TN    —     24

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 4-14-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

 –24  Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description, American Airline Flight 2, Feb 10, 1944

–24  CAB. AIR. American Airlines Accident – Memphis – February 10, 1944.

–24  Eckert. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” AJFMP, 3/1, Mar 1982, p.53.

 Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1944: “On February 10, 1944 American Airlines Flight 2 (NC21767), carrying a complement of 21 passengers and 3 crew, out of Little Rock Arkansas, crashes into the Mississippi River 18 miles southwest of its destination, Memphis Airport, Tennessee, with no survivors at 11:36 pm. No cause was determined.  (ASN, American Flight 2, Feb 10, 1944; citing CAB File No. 523-44)

Civil Aeronautics Board: “American Airlines Trip 2, on a regular transcontinental schedule from Los Angeles to New York City, while en route from Little Rock to Memphis, crashed in the Mississippi River 18 miles southwest of Memphis Airport about 11:36 p.m., CWT, on February 10, 1944. The 21 passengers and three crew members were fatally injured and the airplane, a DC3, was totally destroyed.

“The flight was observed to be at a normal altitude approximately 30 miles west of the scene of the crash. At a point 2 1/2 miles west of the scene, the plane was observed flying very low. How long it had been flying low between these two points could not be ascertained as there were no known witnesses to this portion of the flight. It approached and struck the river in an angle of descent of about 20 degree with the right wing slightly low. Impact with the water, submersion and the extremely difficult salvage operation caused an unusual degree of damage to the plane. Only 75% of the wreckage is estimated to have been recovered….

“One of the last persons to see or hear the flight before it crashed into the river stated that he and his wife heard the plane awfully low, and discussed the possibility of it hitting their house. He added that he looked out of the bedroom window and remarked to his wife that the pilot must be having a lot of trouble. He stated that the plane was making an unusual noise, a rattling noise, which he described as a constant banging comparable to the noise he would expect in the burning out of a connecting rod bearing in an automobile engine. He further described it like metal hitting, just a constant noise from the motors. The meters were making unusual noise. He stated that he only get a glimpse of the plane as it passed his bedroom window, and that he did not notice the attitude of the airplane as it passed. He explained how a few seconds after it passed over his house, he heard a terrible noise which he believed was the airplane crashing into the river.

“A United States shipkeeper, on duty on a barge tied up en the Arkansas bank of the Mississippi River, was the only known witness to the actual plunge of the plane into the river, which, he stated, occurred about 300 yards east of where he was standing. His attention was directed to the airplane when it was approximately 200 feet high and about 100 feet west of the west bank. He added that it was a little cloudy but that the moon was shining. He indicated by his testimony that the visibility was good; that the moonlight was reflecting off the river; that the airplane was coming down with an awful lot of speed, and that it had a whistling noise something like you would set a sky rocket off. He was definite in his belief that both engines were running, and that they continued to do so until the aircraft struck the water, at an angle of about 20 degree with the right wing slightly lower than the left. He explained that upon impact it exploded, and described the explosion as though a ball of fire shot out in front of it. He declared that the aircraft sank almost immediately, adding that he had a good clear view of it . . . . nothing was in my way….

“The Board is unable to determine the probable cause of this accident upon the available evidence which has been collected in the present investigation. Search for further information will continue and in the event that additional significant evidence is obtained a supplemental report will be issued.”  (CAB.  AIR. American Airlines Accident – Memphis – Feb 10, 1944.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. American Airlines Flight 2, February 10, 1944.  Accessed 12-24-2008 at:  http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19440210-0

Civil Aeronautics Board. Accident Investigation Report. American Airlines Accident – Memphis – February 10, 1944.  Washington, DC:  CAB, June 29, 1945, 13 pages.  Accessed 4-14-2024 at:  https://www.baaa-acro.com/sites/default/files/import/uploads/2014/03/NC21767.pdf

Eckert, William G. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 1982, Table 1.