| Date: | Thursday 19 December 1946 |
| Time: | 18:07 |
| Type: |  Douglas C-54B-5-DO (DC-4) |
| Owner/operator: | Eastern Air Lines |
| Registration: | NC88813 |
| MSN: | 18344 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1944 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 4174 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 60 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial, repaired |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Aberdeen, MD -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Newark International Airport, NJ (EWR/KEWR) |
| Miami (unknown airport), FL | |
| Investigating agency: | CAB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Universal Flight 7, a Douglas DC-3, departed Newark at 17:07 on an instrument flight clearance, via Airway Amber 7, over Washington to Raleigh, at 2,000 feet. Fifteen minutes later, Eastern Flight 605, a Douglas DC-4, departed Newark on a contact clearance at 2,000 feet, via Airway Amber 7, over Washington to Miami, non-stop. The DC-4 overtook the DC-3 in the vicinity of Aberdeen, Maryland. The co-pilot of the Eastern DC-4 suddenly saw the lights of an aircraft close to and to the left of the DC-4 and immediately rolled the DC-4 into a bank to the right and pulled the nose up forcefully. The rear of the plane collided with the forward top portion of the DC-3's fuselage. The DC-3 pilots, thinking they had collided with a bird, carried out a safe landing at Phillips Army Air Field while the DC-4 diverted to Washington-National Airport.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the lack of vigilance on the part of the pilots of both aircraft."
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
CAB File No. 5019-46
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
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