Crash at Grand Canyon
By Amanda Pinkstaff
Thesis
The collision of TWA flight 2 and United flight 718
on June 30, 1956 revolutionized the aviation world
by helping establish the Federal Aviation Act of
1958 and fueling the 250 million dollar upgrade to
air traffic control communication and radar.
TWA Super Constellation
United DC-7
June 30, 1956
• 9:01am: TWA flight 2 left runway 24 at Los Angles International Airport (31
minutes late) destined for Kansas City, MO.
• 9:04am: United Airlines Flight 718 left runway 25L at Los Angles International
Airport (19 minutes late) destined to Chicago, IL.
• 9:58am: United 718 reported its position with CAA communication station in
Needles, CA flying at 21,000ft. Scheduled to reach the Painted Desert by
10:31am.
• 9:59am: TWA Flight 2 reported to the company’s station over Las Vegas, NV.
Was at 21,000ft and would reach the Painted Desert at 10:31am.
• 10:13am: Last known report of both
flights to a Salt Lake City, UT controller
that both planes were flying at 21,000ft
and were scheduled to reach the Painted
Desert at 10:31am.
June 30, 1956
• 10:31am: The Salt Lake City, UT control system received a mayday
call from United 718.
• 11:51am: A missing aircraft alert was issued.
• Later that evening Palen and Henry Hudgin, operators of the Grand
Canyon Airlines, went looking for the crash site and found what
looked to be the tail end of TWA Super Constellation flight 2.
• July 1, Army helicopters made
visits to the crash site but
nothing developed until the
next day.
• 6:15am on July 2, 1956 Army
H-21 Piasecki helicopters
began the task of recovering
the victims at the crash site.
The Memorials
July 9, 1956, a ceremony for 67 of
the TWA victims was held at
Citizen’s Cemetery in Flagstaff, AZ.
Memorial site at Grand Canyon
Cemetery , on the South Rim of
the Grand Canyon.
How did the collision of TWA flight 2
and United flight 718 affect the
aviation industry?
The Federal Aviation Act of 1958
This crash was the greatest air tragedy of its time and Congress
responded with the Airways Modernization Act (1957) that
established a board led by General Elwood Quesada.
• Many legislators were split on whether to fund the
new safety regulations.
• It wasn’t until a military jet and commercial airliner
crashed in Brunswick, Maryland on May 20, 1958
that Congress addressed the much-needed upgrade.
• Senator Mike Monroney and Foreign Commerce
Chairman Oren Harris introduced the act to the Senate
and House and on August 23, 1958 President Eisenhower signed
the Federal Aviation Act.
•
Aviation Then and Now
Then
Now
• “Visual Rules”
• Radar around major
cities only.
• Planes got nicknames
like Ocean liners.
• In 1953 a speed
record of 1500mph.
• Accident rate for
commercial aviation at
historic low.
• Nationwide radar and
air traffic controls.
• In 1990 a new speed
record: 2,124.05 mph.
Pictures from the Crash sites
Bibliography - primary
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Accident investigation report: Trans-World Airlines, inc., Lockheed 1049A, N 6902C, and
United Air Lines, inc., Douglas DC-7, N 6324C, Grand Canyon, Arizona, June 30, 1956. :
Washington, 1957.
Gelder, John W. Air Law: The Federal Aviation Act of 1958. Vol. 57. : The Michigan Law
Review Association, 1959. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1286152. (Accessed February
22, 2009)
Redford, Emmette S. Congress Passes the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. Tuscaloosa:
University of Alabama Press, 1961.
St. Petersburg Times. 67 Plane Crash Victims Buried in Mass Ceremony. 9 July 1956, p.
35. (accessed February 22, 2009)
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=oNANAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M3YDAAAAIBAJ&dq=gr
and %20canyon%20airline%20crash&pg=5920%2C4319517
U.S. Air Carrier Operations. Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data. Washington, DC:
National Transportation Safety Board. 2005.
<http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2009/ARC0901.pdf>
U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit. - 295 F.2d 678. Trans World Airlines, Inc., a
Delaware Corporation, Appellant, v. Mary S. Shirley, As Executrix of the Estate of Robert
F. Shirley, Linda Shirley, a Minor by and Through Her guardian Ad Litem, Mary S.
Shirley, And Mary S. Shirley, Appellees . 20 Oct. 1961. Justia.com.
<http://cases.justia.com/us-court-of-appeals/F2/295/678/28621/>
Bibliography - secondary
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Accident Description. The Aviation Safety Network Website. Aviation Safety
Network. 2009. (Accessed February 21, 2009)
<http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19560630-1>.
Adair, Bill. The Collision That Changed How We Fly. St. Petersburg Times. 2006.
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/28/Worldandnation/The_collision_that_ch.s
html. (Accessed April 11, 2009)
Aerofiles. US Aviation Firsts. K.O. Ecklands. 2009.
<http://www.aerofiles.com/chrono.html>
Brandt, Trey. Aircraft Wrecks in Arizona and the Southwest. Arizona Aircraft
Archaeology. 2003.
http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/twa_united_airlines_grand_canyon.htm.
(Accessed February 18, 2009)
Doney & Associates PLC. Grand Canyon Collision. Aroundaz.com. 2005.
http://www.doney.net/aroundaz/grandcanyoncrash.htm. (Accessed February
18, 2009)
Federal Aviation Act (1958). Major Acts of Congress, Answers.com. The Gale
Group, Inc, 2004. http://www.answers.com/topic/federal-aviation-act-1958.
(Accessed February 21, 2009)
Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation.
http://www.faa.gov/. (Accessed February 25, 2009)
Bibliography – pictures
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Brandt, Trey. 2003.
<http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/TWA%20Grand%20Canyon/TWA.jpg>
Brandt, Trey. 2003.
<http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/TWA%20Grand%20Canyon/United%20DC7.jpg>
Doney.net. <http://www.doney.net/aroundaz/DA_crash_map.gif>
Doney.net. <http://www.doney.net/aroundaz/DA_temple_chuar_labeled.jpg>
Doney.net. <http://www.doney.net/aroundaz/DA_grandcanyon_twa_cemetery.jpg>
Doney.net. <http://www.doney.net/aroundaz/DA_grandcanyon_united_cemetery.jpg>
Brandt, Trey. 2003.
<http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/TWA%20Grand%20Canyon/buckles.jpg>
Brandt, Trey. 2003.
<http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/TWA%20Grand%20Canyon/exit3.JPG>
Brandt, Trey. 2003.
<http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/TWA%20Grand%20Canyon/props.jpg>
Brandt, Trey. 2003.
<http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/TWA%20Grand%20Canyon/twacabin.JPG>
Brandt, Trey. 2003.
<http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/TWA%20Grand%20Canyon/purse.jpg>
Air Force Link. <http://www.af.mil/shared/media/bio/quesada_er.jpg>