United Airlines Chesterton Crash

Infobox Airliner accident|name=United Airlines, NC13304
Date=October 10, 1933
Type=Sabotage via probable nitroglycerin bomb
Site=Chesterton, Indiana
Fatalities=7
Injuries=0
Aircraft Type=Boeing 247
Operator=United Airlines
Tail Number=NC13304
Passengers=4
Crew=3
Survivors = 0

A Boeing 247 operated by United Airlines and registered as NC13304 crashed near Chesterton, Indiana, on October 10, 1933. The flight, carrying three crew and four passengers, originated in Newark, New Jersey. It had landed in Cleveland and was headed to Chicago, but exploded "en route" to its final destination of Oakland, California. All aboard died in the crash.

Eyewitnesses on the ground reported hearing an explosion at about 9:15 p.m., and told of seeing the plane in flames at an altitude of about 1,000 feet. A second explosion followed after the plane crashed.

An investigator from the Porter County coroner's office and Northwestern University examined evidence from the crash, and concluded that the crash had been due to a bomb. Melvin Purvis, head of the United States Bureau of Investigation office in Chicago, described the da
nitroglycerin as the probable explosive agent.

Although there was a report that a man was seen carrying a brown package onto the plane in Newark, no suspect has ever been identified or charged in this incident.

This is thought to be the first proven act of air sabotage in the history of commercial aviation.

One of the air crew killed was the flight attendant, Alice Scribner of Chicago. She was the first flight attendant to be killed in a plane crash.

References

* "Seven die as plane crashes in flames". (11 October 1933) "New York Times" p. 1
* "Plane crash laid to blast in air". (12 October 1933) "New York Times" p. 3
* "Wreck of air liner laid to a bomb". (14 October 1933) "New York Times" p. 5
* "Plane wreck laid to nitroglycerine". (15 October 1933) "New York Times" p. 31
* "Seek 'bomber' of plane". (16 October 1933) "New York Times" p. 7

ee also

* Lists of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
* Air safety

External links

* [http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1933/1933-16.htm Plane Crash Info]