1961 President Airlines Douglas DC-6 crash
Douglas DC-6B · Instrument failure and bad weather leading to a loss of control
From Düsseldorf Airport (DUS) to Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 83 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 83
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Douglas DC-6B
- Aircraft type
- Douglas DC-6
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N90773
- Operator
- President Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 83
- Route
- From Düsseldorf Airport (DUS)To Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft systems
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Personnel issues › Physical
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
The 1961 President Airlines Douglas DC-6 crash occurred on the night of September 10, 1961, when a President Airlines Douglas DC-6 named Theodore Roosevelt outbound from Shannon, Ireland crashed into the nearby River Shannon shortly after takeoff, killing all 83 people on board. To date, the crash remains the deadliest one in Irish territory.
Accident
The aircraft was on a non-scheduled international passenger flight from Düsseldorf, Germany to Chicago with stopovers in Shannon and Gander, Newfoundland for refueling. Shortly after takeoff from Shannon Airport's runway 24, the pilots were cleared for a right-hand turn, but they instead turned left and kept turning until the aircraft had reached a bank angle of about 90 degrees or more. Unable to recover, the aircraft plummeted into the River Shannon 5,000 ft. from the end of the runway. There were no survivors among the 83 passengers and crew.
Investigation and cause
Cause
Subsequent investigations indicate that the crash probably resulted from a malfunctioning attitude indicator, a fault in the starboard ailerons, or both. Poor weather conditions and crew fatigue were also cited as possible contributing factors.
Text from the Wikipedia article “1961 President Airlines Douglas DC-6 crash” (revision 1356757927, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1961 President Airlines Douglas DC-6 crash
- Revision
- 1356757927 · 2026-05-29 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q15407469
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1961 President Airlines Douglas DC-6 crash" (page 41309023, revision 1356757927)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator named as an airline in the infobox
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.