List of famous people who have died in incidents involving DC-3 aircraft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] Famous people who have died in incidents involving DC-3 aircraft
August 31, 1940: U.S. senator Ernest Lundeen of Minnesota and 24 others were killed in the crash of a Pennsylvania Central Douglas DC-3 plane. While flying through a thunderstorm, lightning hit the plane, disoriented the crew, and caused them to lose control. The plane nosed over and plunged to the earth.
January 16, 1942: Actress Carole Lombard (33), her mother, her press agent and 19 other people were killed when their Trans Continental & Western DC-3 airplane crashed near Las Vegas, Nevada, as they were returning from a war-bond promotion tour. Carole's death was the first war-related female casualty that the U.S. suffered during World War II. Off course because the captain of the plane was in the back talking to Lombard and the first officer was up front flying all alone in instrument conditions, the plane clipped a rocky ledge on Mt. Potosi, flipped into the face of a cliff, and exploded. Carole, best known for such comedies as Nothing Sacred, was married to Clark Gable. The Red Rock Ranch, where her plane crashed, was owned by Chester Lauck and Norris Goff, who played "Lum and Abner" on radio. It is now a state park.
October 23, 1942: Ralph Rainger (41), a composer and song writer from Palm Springs, California was a passenger in a DC-3 involved in a midair collision with an Army B-34 bomber. The bomber pilot attempted to draw attention to his friend the co-pilot in the airliner and struck the tail of the airliner. All 12 aboard the airliner killed. The bomber landed safely.
June 1, 1943: British actor Leslie Howard (42) and sixteen others were killed when their KLM Royal Dutch Airlines DC-3, flying under the British Overseas Airways Corporation as BOAC Flight 777, was shot down off the coast of France by the German military during World War II.
January 26, 1947: Opera singer and actress Grace Moore (48) was one of 22 people killed when a KLM Royal Dutch DC-3 stalled and crashed while taking off from the Copenhagen, Denmark airport.
April 29, 1959: Joaquin Blume, a Spanish gymnastics champion from Valdemeca, Spain was a passenger in an Iberian Airlines DC-3 that crashed into the east slopes of Sierra de Valdemeca after being diverted due to poor weather. All 28 aboard killed.
April 3, 1961: Green Cross, a first-division Chilean soccer team, died in the crash of a Douglas DC-3 aircraft in the Las Lastimas Mountains near Llico, Chile. All 24 people aboard the plane were killed.
December 13, 1977: A National Jet Services DC-3 crashed as it was taking off from Evansville, Indiana. 29 people died, including the entire University of Evansville basketball team and their coach Bobby Watson. Also killed were radio broadcaster Marv Bates, three crew members, and two Air Indianapolis officials. The aileron on one of the wings remained locked, making it difficult for the plane to bank in the rain and fog. Also, the luggage had been improperly loaded, thus causing a rearward center of gravity that pulled the plane's nose too high on take off.
December 31, 1985: Rock 'n roll singer Ricky Nelson (45), five members of his Stone Canyon Band and his fiancée were killed when a fire broke out on board a DC-3 taking them to a New Year's Eve performance in Dallas, Texas. Two people survived the crash landing near DeKalb, Texas. The fire was probably caused by a malfunctioning heater. Nelson was first known as the son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson in their popular TV show of the late 1950s. He later became famous as the singer of such hits as Travelin' Man and Garden Party.
