Showing posts with label New Orleans plane crash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Orleans plane crash. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Eastern Air Lines flight 304

Another amazing lead!  Thanks so much Jordan Ambridge Langheinz.  This story is about an ill-fated flight.  According to NOLA.com, Eastern Air Lines flight 304 crashed on February 25, 1964 in Lake Pontchartrain.  This crash was the first liner crash in New Orleans history.  All on board died (51 passengers and 7 crew members).

The cause of the crash was determined to be mechanical failure.  Investigators searched for wreckage 45 days after the crash, but only recovered 56% of the aircraft.  Additionally, the remains of 26 passengers have not been recovered.

The location of the plane crash is within 7 miles of shore in Mandeville.  The water was approximately 15 feet deep, but because of silt layers, recovery of evidence, remains, and pieces of the plane were difficult.

There is a reported memorial site at the Garden of Memories in Metairie.  I will make it a point to include this story and the memorial in the book!  Thanks again Jordan!
http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2014/02/50_years_after_the_plane_that.html



Thursday, February 20, 2014

Pan Am 759

nola.com
Pan Am Flight 759, a Boeing 727-235, was a scheduled passenger flight from Miami to Las Vegas with an en route stop at New Orleans. On July 9, 1982 at 4:07:57 PM central day light time, seven crew members and 138 passengers began takeoff at the New Orleans International airport. Flight 759 was leaving New Orleans for Las Vegas during a heavy thunderstorm and suddenly crashed 2 minutes into the flight in a neighborhood called the Roosevelt subdivision in south Kenner. The weather was described as freaky as Captain McCullers completed his preflight checks. Flight 759 began takeoff and only reached 150 feet before plummeting into the suburb, killing an additional 8 people on the ground.
 
Our team will be visiting this site on March 9, 2014.  If you have any first hand information, please contact us at monumentallouisiana@gmail.com .