American Airlines Flight 1 (1936)
Douglas DC-2-120 · Crashed into swamp, cause undetermined (potential controlled flight into terrain)
From Newark, New Jersey to Los Angeles, California
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
- 17 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 17
- 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
- 0
- 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-2-120
- Flight
- AA1
- Aircraft type
- Douglas DC-2
- 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
- NC14274
- Operator
- American Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 17
- Route
- From Newark, New JerseyTo Los Angeles, California
Cause areas
- Not determined › Not determined
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
American Airlines Flight 1 was a regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight. On January 14, 1936, a Douglas DC-2 airliner, operating the flight that day on its then Memphis to Little Rock route, crashed 14 minutes after departure. Everyone aboard, including 14 passengers and 3 crew members, were killed. The cause of the crash remains undetermined. As of 2025, it remains the deadliest crash in Arkansas state history.
Accident
On Tuesday, January 14, 1936, at 7:04 p.m., the aircraft departed from Memphis Municipal Airport. The last contact with the flight crew was at 7:18 p.m. as the aircraft was heading towards Little Rock. The aircraft later crashed into a swamp near Goodwin, Arkansas, about 2 mi north of U.S. Highway 70, disintegrating on impact and killing all 17 people on board. The wreckage was scattered over 400 yd in 4 or 5 ft of water. The crash was the seventh hull loss and fifth fatal accident of the Douglas DC-2 at the time. This crash would be the first of three fatal crashes under the call sign of AAL1.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The U.S. Commerce Department appointed a board of inquiry led by Eugene T. Vidal to investigate the accident. At that time, there were different theories as to what happened on the aircraft, such as a piece of metal that appeared to have a bullet hole on it according to the Arkansas Gazette, or someone who may have hindered the pilot's actions while flying. On February 22, the board ruled out the possibility of a "purely mechanical failure". On March 7, the final report was issued and stated that flying at a low altitude, an interference with the pilots' sight by a passenger in the cockpit, the switching of an empty gas tank for a full one that may have caused a sudden drop into the tree line, and the first officer being "momentarily confused due to some minor difficulties" if he was alone in the cockpit it may have contributed to the cause of this accident, but the probable cause or causes thereof cannot be determined.
Text from the Wikipedia article “American Airlines Flight 1 (1936)” (revision 1358407539, 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: American Airlines Flight 1 (1936)
- Revision
- 1358407539 · 2026-06-08 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q16961270
- 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 "American Airlines Flight 1 (1936)" (page 41962917, revision 1358407539)
- 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
- airline flight number 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.