• 1940 – Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19 crashes near Lovettsville, Virginia. The CAB investigation of the accident is the first investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938.

Lovettsville air disaster

Coordinates: 39°16'24"N 77°41'05"W

Accident
Date: August 31, 1940
Summary: Lightning strike (probable)
Site: Near Short Hill Mountain, Lovettsville, Virginia
39°16'24"N 77°41'05"W
Aircraft type: Douglas DC-3
Operator: Pennsylvania Central Airlines
Registration: NC21789
Flight origin: Washington, D.C.
Stopover: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Destination: Detroit, Michigan
Passengers: 21
Crew: 4
Fatalities: 25
Survivors: 0

On August 31, 1940, Pennsylvania Central Airlines Trip 19, a new Douglas DC-3A, was flying from Washington, D.C. to Detroit with a stopover in Pittsburgh. While the aircraft was flying near Lovettsville, Virginia at 6,000 feet (1,800 m) and approaching the West Virginia border, Trip 19 encountered an intense thunderstorm. Numerous witnesses reported seeing a large flash of lightning shortly before it nosed over and plunged to earth in an alfalfa field. With limited accident investigation tools at the time, it was at first believed that the most likely cause was the plane flying into windshear, but the Civil Aeronautics Board report concluded that the probable cause was a lightning strike.[1] U.S. Senator Ernest Lundeen was among the 21 passengers and 4 crew members killed.[Also on board were "a Special Agent of the FBI, a second FBI employee, and a prosecutor from the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice." At the time of the crash, the FBI was investigating Sen. Lundeen's ties to George Sylvester Viereck, a top Nazi spy working in the US to spread pro-Hitler and anti-Semitic propaganda.

The crash occurred during a severe rainstorm, and recovery efforts were hindered by impassable flooded roads and poor communications: the crash cut the only telephone lines in the area. Wreckage was scattered over a broad area, and it is believed that all aircraft occupants died instantly on impact. At the time, the crash was the deadliest disaster in the history of U.S. commercial aviation.

"Trip 19", as it was designated, was under the command of Captain Lowell V. Scroggins with First Officer J. Paul Moore. The pilot and copilot had over eleven thousand and six thousand hours experience respectively, although only a few hundred of those hours were on DC-3s. The aircraft was carrying 21 revenue passengers, a single flight attendant, and a deadheading airline manager riding in the jump seat in the cockpit.[1]

The DC-3A was newly delivered from Douglas Aircraft on May 25, 1940, equipped with twin Curtiss-Wright R-1820 Cyclone 9 engines (also designated as G-102-A).[1]

The CAB investigation of the accident was the first major investigation to be conducted under the Bureau of Air Commerce act of 1938.[1]

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[1] Report of the Civil Aeronautics Board" (PDF). Civil Aeronautics Board. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2009-04-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20131020122846/http://www.baesel.net/capaccidents/1940.08.31_PennsylvaniaCentralAirlinesCorp_DouglasDC-3-A.pdf

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Capital Airlines

In 1948 Capital introduced the "Nighthawk", one of the first coach class services, to compete with the railroads between Chicago and New York City and the dominant airlines on the route, United, TWA and American. Each flight left at 1 AM and stopped for ten minutes at Pittsburgh (Allegheny County). Chicago-NY fare was $29.60 plus 15% federal tax; seats on all other flights cost $44.10 plus tax.

Also in 1948 the first airborne television was installed on a Capital airplane.


A Capital Airlines Vickers Viscount at Allentown,
Pennsylvania ABE Airport discharging passengers in 1960.

In 1950 Capital Airlines received their first Lockheed Constellations. In 1955 they became the first U.S. operator of the British manufactured, four engine Vickers Viscount, the first passenger turboprop airliner. The Viscount propjets were deployed on the flagship Washington-Chicago route and the airline had planned to fly them on expanded service; however, Capital was mostly stymied by the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). The CAB also refused Capital a requested subsidy. Still, Capital's passenger-miles in 1957 were 88% more than 1955.