1959 — Nov 24, Trans World Air Flight 595 Crash, hits homes (8 killed), Chicago, IL    —     11

–12  Quarterly of the NFPA. “Large Loss of Life Fires of 1959.” Vol. 53, July 1960, p. 28.^[1]

–11  AP. “At Least Ten Die in Crash.” Daily Capital News, Jefferson City, MO. 11-25-1959, 1.^[2]

–11  Aviation Safety Network. Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation, TWA, 24 Nov 1959.

–11  CAB. AAR. Trans World Air…Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois, November 24, 1959.

 Narrative Information

 CAB: “On November 24, 1959, at approximately 0535 c. s. t., a Lockheed Constellation, N 102R, Flight 595, operated by Trans World Airlines, Inc., crashed into a residential area about one-fourth of a mile southeast of Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois, killing all persons aboard, demolishing the aircraft, and fatally injuring eight persons on the ground.

 “Flight 595, loaded with cargo, took off on runway 31L of Midway at approximately 0531 c. s. t., November 24, 1959, bound for Los Angles, California. As the aircraft began a left turn, the crew notified Midway Tower they had received a fire warning on the No. 2 engine and had shut it down. They also informed the tower the flight would return and land. The aircraft proceeded in a continuing left turn around the airport in an elliptical pattern and below the clouds which were based at an altitude of 500 to 600 feet.

 “In the turn to final approach to runway 31 the aircraft banked in excess of 45 degrees during which it developed an excessive rate of sink. When the aircraft reached the tops of the trees its wings were nearly level and its nose was raised in a climbing attitude; however, the descent continued. The wing flaps were being retracted during the last 5 to 10 seconds of the final descent and were found to be symmetrically extended at 24 percent upon impact.

 “It is the conclusion of the Board that this accident was the consequence of maneuvering the aircraft during the turn to final approach in such a manner as to cause a rate of sink from which recovery was not possible.

“Trans World Airlines Flight 595 of November 24, l959, was a scheduled cargo flight from Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California.

“The takeoff appeared normal to the tower operators. After 1 minute and 13 seconds the crew transmitted, they were starting a left turn. Seven seconds later the crew informed the tower of the fire bell on the No 2 engine, that the engine had been shut down and the flight was coming back in. During the next 25 seconds Midway Tower gave landing clearance to the flight for runway 31 or any runway it desired to use. The crew told the tower they would use runway 31. Eleven seconds later the flight rejected an offer from the tower to call out the emergency equipment….

“The Board believes an accident such as this is a certainty when at low altitude an excessive rate of sink is coupled with the additional loss of lift caused by the simultaneous retraction of the wing flaps from 60 to 24 percent. The flap setting of 24 percent was their intransit position as the aircraft struck the ground.

“The Board determines the probable cause of this accident to be the maneuvering of the aircraft in a manner that caused it to develop an excessive rate of sink while in the turn to final approach.”  (CAB. Trans World Air…Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois, November 24, 1959.)

Aviation Safety Network: “A Lockheed Constellation, N102R, crashed into a residential area about 400 m southeast of Chicago-Midway Airport, IL (MDW), killing all three persons aboard, demolishing the aircraft, and fatally injuring eight persons on the ground.

“TWA Flight 595, loaded with cargo, took off on runway 31L of Midway at approximately 0531, bound for Los Angeles, CA (LAX). As the aircraft began a left turn, the crew notified Midway Tower they had received a fire warning on the No. 2 engine and had shut it down. They also informed the tower the flight would return and land.

“The aircraft proceeded in a continuing left turn around the airport in an elliptical pattern and below the clouds which were based at an altitude of 500 to 600 feet.

“In the turn to final approach to runway 31 the aircraft banked in excess of 45 degrees during which it developed an excessive rate of sink. When the aircraft reached the tops of the trees its wings were nearly level and its nose was raised in a climbing attitude; however, the descent continued. The wing flaps were being retracted during the last 5 to 10 seconds of the final descent and were found to be symmetrically extended at 24 percent upon impact.

“Probable Cause: “The maneuvering of the aircraft in a manner that caused it to develop an excessive rate of sink while in the turn to final approach.”” (Aviation Safety Network. Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation, Trans World Airlines – TWA, 24 November 1959. Flight Safety Foundation.)

NFPA: “….Zoning regulations around airports, partic­ularly on approaches and extensions to the runways, have been to largely ignored in the U. S. The famed ‘Doolittle Report’ of 1952 called attention to this fact but little has been done to follow the recommendations in this Report.” (National Fire Protection Association. “Large Loss of Life Fires of 1959.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 53, July 1960, p. 28.

 Sources:

 

Associated Press. “At Least Ten Die in Crash.” Daily Capital News, Jefferson City, MO. 11-25-1959, p. 1. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=108765072&sterm=twa

 

Aviation Safety Network. Lockheed L-1049H Super Constellation, Trans World Airlines – TWA, 24 November 1959. Flight Safety Foundation. Accessed 2-11-2020 at:

https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19591124-0

 

Civil Aeronautics Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Trans World Airlines, Inc., Lockheed Constellation L-1049H, N 102R, Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois, November 24, 1959. Washington, DC: CAB (File No. 1-0072), May 12, 1961, 9 pages. Accessed at:  http://dotlibrary1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?file&fn=8&name=*P%3A%5CDOT%5Cairplane%20accidents%5Cwebsearch%5C112459.pdf

 

National Fire Protection Association.  “Large Loss of Life Fires of 1959.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 53, July 1960, pp. 7-38.

 

 

 

 

[1] Writes that “Nine persons on the ground and the three crew members…perished.” We, however, have not been able to substantiate the figure of 12 deaths, and thus rely on the CAB report.

[2] A late-breaking “Bulletin” inserted into the article notes that “The body of a woman was found Tuesday night in the blackened ruins of a house near Midway Airport, raising to 11 the death toll of the crash…early Tuesday.”