Capital Airlines Flight 67

1958 plane crash in Michigan, United States

43°31′14.05″N 84°5′54.91″W / 43.5205694°N 84.0985861°W / 43.5205694; -84.0985861AircraftAircraft typeVickers Viscount OperatorCapital AirlinesRegistrationN7437Flight originNewark International Airport
Newark, New Jersey, United States^[1]1st stopoverWillow Run Airport,
Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States2nd stopoverFlint-Bishop Airport,
Flint, Michigan, United States3rd stopoverFreeland-Tri City Airport,
Freeland, Michigan, United States4th stopoverCapital City Airport,
Lansing, Michigan, United States5th stopoverKent County Airport,
Cascade Township, Michigan, United StatesDestinationChicago Midway Airport,
Chicago, Illinois, United StatesPassengers44Crew3Fatalities47Survivors0

Capital Airlines Flight 67 was a domestic scheduled U.S. passenger flight operated by Capital Airlines which crashed on final approach to Freeland, Michigan, during a severe snowstorm on April 6, 1958, killing all 47 people on board. The flight was en route from Flint-Bishop Airport to the Freeland-Tri City Airport (now MBS International Airport) when it crashed.^[2] Flight 67 was the first of four fatal crashes in the space of two years involving Capital Airlines Vickers Viscounts;^[3] the others were Capital Airlines Flight 300 (May 1958),^[4] Capital Airlines Flight 75 (May 1959), and Capital Airlines Flight 20 (January 1960).

Approach conditions towards Freeland were poor due to the weather; there was restricted visibility, and conditions were ripe for icing. The plane's crew apparently attempted a steep turn to align the craft with the runway. This caused the plane to stall, which was followed by a spin.^[5] The crew could not regain control, leading to the crash.

The official cause of the crash was listed as an undetected buildup of ice on the horizontal stabilizer which, coupled with airspeed and the design of the aircraft, caused it to lose control.^[5] Furthermore, the aircraft's stall warning device was inoperative.^[2]^[6]

A memorial to the victims was unveiled in a local cemetery in 2001.^[7]

References

^ Andrick, Floyd The crash of Flight 67 was 60 years ago, Midland Daily News, April 6, 2018, retrieved 2024-03-18
^ ^a ^b "Civil Aeronautics Board Accident Report, Docket no. SA-331, File no. 1-0031". 6 April 1958. Retrieved June 1, 2021. – PDF
^ Capital Airlines accidents and incidents
^ Accident description for Capital Airlines Flight 300 at the Aviation Safety Network
^ ^a ^b Accident description for Capital Airlines Flight 67 at the Aviation Safety Network
^ Winger, Doug (March 24, 2008). "47 perish: Easter Sunday plane crash at Tri-City Airport remembered 50 years later". Midland Daily News. Archived from the original on January 30, 2013.
^ Henson, Stacey (April 6, 2008). "Crash of Capital Airlines Flight 67 lingers like contrails in the mind of an Essexville, Michigan, author and plane enthusiast". Saginaw news archives, mlive.com.

External links

Henson, Stacey (April 6, 2008). "Michigan's third-worst plane crash killed all 47 aboard 50 years ago today in Freeland". Saginaw news archives, mlive.com.
Henson, Stacey (April 6, 2008). "As a boy, Carl Burk of Freeland surveyed the crash site of Capital Airlines Flight 67". Saginaw news archives, mlive.com.
Eng, Bernie (April 6, 2008). "Flight 67 victims". Saginaw news archives, mlive.com.

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1958 (1958)

Jan 15

Channel Airways DH.104 Dove

Feb 5

Tybee Island mid-air collision

Feb 6

Munich air disaster

Feb 27

Winter Hill disaster

Apr 6

Capital Airlines Flight 67

Apr 21

United Airlines Flight 736

May 20

Capital Airlines Flight 300

May 25

Dan Air Avro York

Jun 27

Westover Air Force Base KC-135 crash

Aug 9

Central African Airways Flight 890

Aug 14

KLM Flight 607–E

Aug 15

Aeroflot Flight 4

Aug 15

Northeast Airlines Flight 258

Sep 2

London Vickers Viking

Sep 5

Aeroflot Flight 365

Sep 20

Syerston Avro Vulcan crash

Oct 17

Aeroflot Тu-104 Kanash crash

Oct 22

BEA Flight 142

Dec 4

Aviaco Languedoc

Dec 24

BOAC Bristol Britannia

1957 ◄ ► 1959

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1950s
1950	Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 307 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 Fairfield-Suisun Boeing B-29 crash
1951	National Airlines Flight 83 Cubana de Aviación Flight 493 United Air Lines Flight 610 United Air Lines Flight 615 Miami Airlines C-46 Continental Charters Flight 44-2
1952	American Airlines Flight 6780 National Airlines Flight 101 Pan Am Flight 526A American Airlines Flight 910 Mount Gannett C-124 crash Moses Lake C-124 crash
1953	National Airlines Flight 470 Delta Air Lines Flight 318 USMC R4Q NROTC crash American Airlines Flight 723 BCPA Flight 304
1955	Cincinnati mid-air collision TWA Flight 260 American Airlines Flight 711 Hawaii R6D-1 crash Pan Am Flight 845/26 MacArthur Airport United Airlines crash American Airlines Flight 476 United Air Lines Flight 409 United Air Lines Flight 629
1956	TWA Flight 400 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2 Grand Canyon mid-air collision Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 304
1957	Pacoima mid-air collision Northeast Airlines Flight 823 Northeast Airlines Flight 285
1958	Capital Airlines Flight 67 Capital Airlines Flight 300 Westover Air Force Base KC-135 crash Northeast Airlines Flight 258
1959	Southeast Airlines Flight 308 American Airlines Flight 320 The Day the Music Died Pan Am Flight 115 Capital Airlines Flight 75 American Airlines Flight 514 Braniff International Airways Flight 542 Piedmont Airlines Flight 349 National Airlines Flight 967 Allegheny Airlines Flight 371 San Diego F3H crash
This list is incomplete.