TWA Flight 128

TWA Flight 128 was a regularly scheduled Trans World Airlines passenger flight from Los Angeles to Boston, with intermediate stops in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. On November 20, 1967, Flight 128 crashed on final approach to Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport 70 of the 82 people aboard the Convair 880 were killed in the crash.

Accident

Flight 128 departed Los Angeles at 17:37 Eastern Standard Time and operated to Cincinnati without incident. The flight was initially scheduled to make an Instrument Landing System approach to Greater Cincinnati Airport's runway 18 (now runway 18C). The outer marker beacon for runway 18 was operational, but the middle marker beacon, glide slope, and runway approach lights were inoperative. Under these conditions, proper procedure would be to maintain the minimum approach altitude of 1290 ft above mean sea level until the pilots made visual contact with the runway.

At 20:56, Flight 128 reported passing the outer marker, and was cleared to land. The flight crew then initiated their descent and began performing their final landing checklist. While on final approach, the aircraft descended to an elevation of 875 ft, where it first struck trees in a spot 9357 ft short of runway 18 and 429 ft right of the runway's extended centerline. The first impact was described by a survivor as like a hard landing; this was followed by a series of hard bumps and the airplane's final impact. The aircraft's final position was in a wooded area 6878 ft short of the runway, where it disintegrated and was enveloped in flames.

Of the 82 people on board the aircraft, 60 were killed immediately, and another 10 died in the days following the crash. Twelve people (two crew members and 10 passengers) survived with injuries. One of the surviving passengers reported that the plane broke apart in front of him, he stepped out and ran from the wreckage shortly before it exploded.