Eastern Air Lines Flight 212
1974 aviation accident
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Key Takeaways
- Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Charleston Municipal Airport, South Carolina to Chicago O'Hare, Illinois, with an intermediate stop in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- The National Transportation Safety Board conducted an investigation and determined that pilot error was the primary cause of the crash.
- The aircraft crashed several miles before the runway.
- Background Aircraft The aircraft was a five-year-old McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 registered as N8984E with serial number 47400.
- In its five years of service, it had logged a total of 16,860.
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Source summary
WikipediaEastern Air Lines Flight 212 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Charleston Municipal Airport, South Carolina to Chicago O'Hare, Illinois, with an intermediate stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. On September 11, 1974, the aircraft operating the flight, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, crashed during approach to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, killing 72 of the 82 people on board.
The National Transportation Safety Board conducted an investigation and determined that pilot error was the primary cause of the crash. During the approach, the flight crew was engrossed in idle conversation instead of monitoring their flight instruments and altitude, allowing the aircraft to descend far past the safe altitude. The aircraft crashed several miles before the runway. The investigation resulted in the issuance of the sterile cockpit rule, which prohibited pilots from interactions irrelevant to the flight during critical phases, such as landing and takeoff.
The aircraft was a five-year-old McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 registered as N8984E with serial number 47400. It was delivered to Eastern Air Lines on January 30, 1969. In its five years of service, it had logged a total of 16,860.6 hours of flying time.
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