1947 — May 30, Eastern Air Lines Flight 605 Crash, Near Bainbridge, MD — 53

— 53 Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Maryland.
— 53 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Eastern Air Lines Flight 605.
— 53 Baugher. 1943 USAAF Serial Numbers (43-5109 to 43-52437). 11-7-2011 rev.
— 53 Civil Aeronautics Board. AIR. Eastern Air Lines – Near Bainbridge, MD, May 30, 1947.
— 53 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 370.

Narrative Information

Baugher: “Douglas C-54B-15-DO Skymaster….17180 (c/n 18380, DO154) to US Navy as ??? 11/45 to Eastern Airlines, Inc. as N88814, side no 708. On May 30, 1947 Flight 605 departed Newark at 17.04h for a flight to Miami with a stop at Baltimore, and climbed to its assigned cruising altitude of 4000 feet. At about 17.41 witnesses saw the aircraft on its approach to Baltimore; enter a steepening dive until it struck the ground at high speed in a partially inverted attitude. 4 crew and 49 PAX fatal.” (Baugher. 1943 USAAF Serial Numbers (43-5109 to 43-52437). 11-7-2011 rev.)

CAB: “Eastern Air Lines Flight 605…en route non-stop from Newark, New Jersey, to Miami, Florida, crashed near Bainbridge, Maryland, about 1741, May 30, 1947, fatally injuring all 53 occupants and demolishing the aircraft….

“Flight 605 carried 48 revenue passengers, one infant, a crew of four, and cargo. An instrument flight plan specifying a cruising altitude of 4,000 feet was filed and approved. The plane was away from the ramp at its Scheduled departure time of 1655 and off the ground at 1704.

“Position reports were made over Metuchen, New Jersey, at 1,000 feet altitude and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at 4,000 feet altitude, at 1710 and 1727, respectively. The 1727 message included an estimated time of arrival at Baltimore as 1749. No message suggesting trouble was received.

“At approximately 1741 a number of persons in various locations on the ground near Bainbridge saw the aircraft enter a dive which became progressively steeper until it passed from their view behind trees or terrain….

“Impact with the ground was about 2 miles east of Bainbridge, on Amber 7 Airway, in a moderately to densely wooded area with trees 60-70 feet high. The aircraft broke up into a large number of pieces which were strewn irregularly over an area roughly 500 feet long and 150 feet wide with the explosive-like violence common to high-speed crashes….

“The flight was dispatched properly from Newark. The flight crew was currently certificated and qualified over the route. Weather was excellent and did not contribute to the accident. Investigation of the power plants can be summed in the statement that nothing was found to indicate or even suggest that there had been any malfunctioning of any component of any power plant….

“Flight 605 departed Newark (EWR) at 17:04 for a flight to Miami (MIA) and climbed to it’s assigned cruising altitude of 4000 feet. At about 17:41 witnesses saw the aircraft enter a steepening dive until it struck the ground at high speed in a partially inverted attitude.

“The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was a sudden loss of control, for reasons unknown, resulting in a dive to the ground.” (CAB. AIR. Eastern Air Lines – Near Bainbridge, MD, May 30, 1947.)

Cornell: “Fort Deposit, Maryland (Eastern), May 31 [sic.], 1947…..A structural defect in the tail assembly was blamed for the crash.”

ASN: This disaster was the worst aviation accident at the time. (Aviation Safety Network. Eastern Air Lines Flight 605). It was the first aviation disaster with fifty or more fatalities.

Sources

Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Maryland. Accessed 3/9/2009 at: http://www.baaa-acro.com/Pays/Etats-Unis/Maryland.htm

Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation. Database 1947. “Friday 30 May 1947.” Accessed 7-2-2020 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19470530-0

Baugher, Joseph F. 1943 USAAF Serial Numbers (43-5109 to 43-52437). Nov 7, 2011 revision. Accessed 12-18-2011 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1943_2.html

Civil Aeronautics Board. Accident Investigation Board. Eastern Air Lines – Near Bainbridge, MD, May 30, 1947. Washington, DC: CAB, June 30, 1948. Accessed at: http://dotlibrary1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?websearch&site=dot_aircraftacc

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.