American Airlines Flight 009
Douglas DC-3-277 · Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error
From New York City, New York 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
- 22
- Survivors
- 5
- 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-3-277
- Aircraft type
- Douglas DC-3
- 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
- NC18142
- Operator
- American Airlines
- Onboard fatalities
- 17
- Route
- From New York City, New YorkTo Los Angeles, California
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Action/decision
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Organizational issues › Support/oversight/monitoring
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 009 was a flight from New York City to Los Angeles. On the morning of February 23, 1945, while flying over Rural Retreat, Virginia, on the Washington-Nashville leg, the Douglas DC-3 struck the wooded summit of Glade Mountain in the Appalachian Mountains, killing 17 of the 22 occupants on board.
Accident
American Airlines Flight 009 departed New York City at 9:39 p.m. on February 22, 1945. Upon leaving Washington at 12:11 a.m. on the morning of February 23, there had been no indication of trouble. The last radio message from the captain was at 2:05 a.m., giving the plane's position as 4000 feet over Pulaski, Virginia. While cruising and flying in a southwesterly direction, as it was descending through rain and clouds, the plane impacted wooded terrain approximately 3,910 feet above sea level. Wreckage was strewn over a path of 450 feet.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
According to the survivors, the plane was in a rainstorm and one of the engines had troubles.
Probable cause
According to the Civil Aeronautics Board's investigation, the probable cause of this accident was:
The pilot's failure to properly plan the flight and remain at a safe instrument altitude under existing conditions of bad weather.
A contributing cause of the accident was the company's laxity in dispatching and supervising the flight.
Text from the Wikipedia article “American Airlines Flight 009” (revision 1339307482, 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 009
- Article
- American Airlines Flight 009
- Revision
- 1339307482 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q123266183
- 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 009" (page 74104538, revision 1339307482)
- 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
- flight number in the article title
- 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.