TWA Flight 1

Transcontinental and Western Airways Flight 1 (TWA 1), a Douglas DC-2, crashed into Chestnut Ridge, near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, approximately 10:20 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on April 7, 1936, killing 12 of the 14 passengers and crew aboard. Flight 1 was a regularly scheduled TWA Sun Racer flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Los Angeles, with almost a dozen intermediate stops between. Approaching the flight's second stop, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Allegheny County Airport, pilot Otto Ferguson lost contact with the airport's radio navigation signal, and tracked several miles in a southwestern line off course. Fearing icing conditions, he descended in an attempt to find visual landmarks for navigation. Thick fog hindered him, and his descent continued until Flight 1 hit ice-covered trees atop Chestnut Ridge, about 40 mi south of Pittsburgh, just north of the West Virginia state line and near Uniontown, Pennsylvania. When the plane crashed it was aiming in a northern flight direction indicating that the pilot finally realized he had tracked south of his flightplan and may have been trying to correct it. (The flight should have been aimed due west not north or hours prior south-southwest.)

The plane's two pilots were killed instantly, as were several passengers. Flight attendant Nellie Granger, though injured in the crash, got help for the surviving passengers by following nearby telephone wires to a home, where she called for help. Though one of the survivors later died of his injuries, Granger was hailed as a hero for her efforts to help them despite her own injuries.

The crash

On March 11, 1936, W. L. Smith, a pilot for TWA, was descending to land at Pittsburgh's Allegheny County Airport but found the airport's radio beacon had led him 40 mi off course. After landing safely, Smith complained to airport officials, who were unable to find anything wrong with the beacon. Other pilots later testified the beacon frequently gave a false signal similar to the one received when an airplane was directly above the airport.

On April 7, TWA Flight 1 left Newark at 7:54 a.m. and made its regularly scheduled stop in Camden, outside Philadelphia, at 8:27 a.m. and picked up additional passengers. In Camden, pilot Otto Ferguson and co-pilot Harry C. Lewis received the weather report for their trip, which indicated heavy clouds and icing conditions in western Pennsylvania below 15,000 feet. The DC-2 was certified to operate in these conditions, which required instrument flying rules. Ferguson's plan was to fly west from Camden, using compass readings and radio beacons as guidance, then make an approach into Allegheny County Airport from the northeast. During the trip, he kept in radio contact with TWA Flight 21, a direct flight from Newark to Pittsburgh. That flight was scheduled to arrive about the same time as Flight 1, and Ferguson wanted to avoid potential problems.

Unbeknownst to Ferguson, the course he flew was about 8 degrees south of his plan. After passing the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, radio beam, TWA Flight 1 began to drift south. Heavy cloud cover prevented Ferguson from seeing any landmarks, and he was relying wholly upon instruments. Shortly after 10 a.m., Ferguson began his descent to Pittsburgh, believing it to be much closer than it actually was. At 10:09, he asked for weather conditions and was told the skies were overcast, with thick clouds above 1700 ft. He confirmed the report and said he was about 10 mi east of the airport, flying in clouds at 3000 ft. Ferguson said the tower's radio signal was "very weak" and asked, "Is it OK to come on in?" It was the last communication from the plane.

At 10:10 a.m., witnesses near Connellsville, Pennsylvania, which is about 30 mi south of Pittsburgh, reported hearing and seeing the plane fly overhead through gaps in the fog. Several people reported seeing the plane flying low over houses. Investigators later concluded that during these final moments before the crash, Ferguson realized he was lost and began following a small creek to the northwest. The heavy clouds forced him to fly lower to follow the creek, which turns into a small valley before its source. After entering the valley, Ferguson would have had only three-quarters of a mile (1.5 kilometers) to climb 650 ft over the mountain he was then faced with.

About 10:20 a.m., Flight 1 crashed into the south side of Chestnut Ridge's summit.