March 16, 2025 • 22 mins
The 1956 Grand Canyon Mid-Air Collision: Tragic Prelude to Aviation Reform
On June 30, 1956, two passenger planes collided over the Grand Canyon, resulting in no survivors and a devastating disaster that spurred significant changes in aviation safety regulations. This episode of 'History's A Disaster' with Andrew examines the circumstances leading to the collision between TWA Flight 2 and United Airlines Flight 718. The lack of radar coverage, inadequate air traffic control, and the challenges of early aviation technology are discussed, highlighting the human and technical factors that contributed to the tragedy. The aftermath, including public outcry and legislative changes that led to the formation of the FAA, is also explored. The site of the crash has since been declared a National Historic Landmark, cementing its place in aviation history.
00:00 The Grand Canyon Mid-Air Collision: An Overview
00:42 Setting the Scene: Air Travel in the 1950s
01:21 The Fateful Morning: June 30th, 1956
02:39 Flight Paths and Air Traffic Control Challenges
07:43 The Collision: A Tragic Encounter
11:16 Aftermath and Investigation
17:17 Impact on Aviation Regulations
21:46 Legacy and Memorial
22:15 Conclusion and Sign-Off
Facebook: historyisadisaster
Instagram: historysadisaster
email: historysadisaster@gmail.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Andrew (00:00):
On June 30th, 1956, two passenger planes collided into
each other while traveling overthe Grand Canyon.
There was no survivors.
One plane would end up crashinginto the canyon floor while the
other smashed into a cliff face.
(00:22):
So what happened?
Let's find out.
Hello, I'm Andrew and this isHistory's A Disaster.
Tonight we're taking a look intoa devastating mid air collision
that claimed multiple lives.
(00:42):
In the 1950s, commercial airtravel was still in its infancy.
Radar was still a relatively newtechnology and had only just
started seeing use in what wasconsidered critical cities.
Designating airways fornavigation and travel was just
starting to be used also.
(01:03):
The jet age had not quite hitthe commercial airlines yet
either.
They relied almost exclusivelyon propeller driven planes like
the Douglas DC 7 and theLockheed L 1049 Super
Constellation in today'sdisaster.
On the morning of June 30th, LAXwas busy as shit.
(01:25):
World War II had ended and thecountry's economy was booming.
More people could fly than everbefore.
The airport was busy, butprobably nothing like today.
Plus, they didn't have the TSAto deal with.
So that's gotta make it a lotbetter right there.
Anyways, waiting to take off wastwo planes, TWA Flight 2, a
(01:47):
super constellation flown byCaptain Jack Gandy, First
Officer James Rittner, andFlight Engineer Forrest
Brayfogle.
With a total of 64 passengers,they were waiting to go to
Kansas City.
And then you had United AirlinesFlight 718, a DC 7 flown by
(02:10):
Captain Robert Shirley, FirstOfficer Robert Harms, and Flight
Engineer Gerard Fiore.
Their 53 passengers waited tohead to Newark via Chicago's
Midway Airport.
At 9.
01, Captain Gandy departed LAX.
Another long and boring flightfor the captain.
(02:31):
He was well experienced withover 15, 000 flight hours and
had made this trip almost 200times already.
Initially, they were flyingunder instrument flight rules.
Which basically means they hadto rely on whatever basic ass
instruments they had on theplane.
They climbed to an authorizedaltitude of 19, 000 feet and
(02:53):
stayed in controlled airspace asfar as Daggett, California.
At Daggett, Captain Gandhiturned right to a heading of 59
degrees magnetic toward theradio range near Trinidad,
Colorado.
They were now off airways,otherwise known as flying in
uncontrolled airspace.
(03:14):
Uncontrolled airspace is anyairspace that does not have air
traffic control services.
Three minutes behind him,Captain Shirley got clearance to
take off.
Climbing to an authorizedaltitude of 21, 000 feet,
Captain Shirley flew under IFRand controlled airspace to a
(03:34):
point northeast of Palm Springs,California, where he turned left
towards a radio beacon nearNeedles, after which his flight
plan was direct to Durango insouthwestern Colorado.
Though still under IFR, theywere now heading into
uncontrolled airspace.
(03:54):
Although heading in differentdirections, both planes would
have to eventually cross theGrand Canyon.
shortly after takeoff, CaptainGandy requested permission to
climb to 21, 000 feet to avoid astorm that was brewing near his
flight path.
And, as was the pretty stupidpractice at the time, his
(04:14):
request had to be relayed by aTWA radio dispatcher to air
traffic control, since neithercrew was in direct contact with
ATC after departure.
ATC denied the request, the twoairliners would soon be re
entering controlled airspace.
Outside of Las Vegas, an ATC hadno way to provide the horizontal
(04:40):
separation required between twoaircraft at the same altitude.
So, Captain Gandy then requested1, 000 on top clearance.
1, 000 on top clearance meansthey'd have to fly 1, 000 feet
above the clouds.
This was approved by ATC.
By flying on top of the clouds,the aircraft would have to
(05:02):
switch to VFR.
Which is visual flight rules,and the pilot would be
responsible for their navigationand separation from other
aircraft.
The controller that approvedthis climb to a thousand feet on
top had not realized that overthe Grand Canyon that morning,
clouds had reached 20, 000 feet.
(05:23):
Although this clearance allowedCaptain Gandhi to fly at any
height at or above 21, 000 feet,he basically got permission for
the same exact flight that ATChad denied just minutes ago.
They did, however, pass alongthat Flight 718 would be flying
in the same area at 21, 000feet.
(05:45):
Captain Gandy would reply backthat he understood.
Upon receiving this clearance,Captain Gandy increased his
altitude to 21, 000 feet.
Now, both planes were at thesame altitude, and both had
estimated they would cross thePainted Desert Line at about
1031.
The Painted Desert Line is a 173mile long line between Utah and
(06:11):
Arizona.
Used by air traffic to provideinformation about where a flight
was in uncontrolled airspace.
A minute later, Flight 2 calledin, making a similar estimate.
The air traffic controllers nowknew that two aircraft would
likely be flying at the samealtitude crossing the Painted
(06:32):
Desert line at the same time.
However, since it could beanywhere along this path, And
they were in uncontrolledairspace, the responsibility to
avoid collision fell into thehands of the pilots.
So basically, they were in noman's land, it was not ATC's
problem at all.
(06:53):
Now, for unconfirmed reasons,both planes would take a more
northerly path than what theirflight plans had originally
called for.
It is believed that due tothunderstorms in the area to the
south, which the pilots may haveavoided to give passengers a
better view of the Grand Canyon.
(07:14):
Unfortunately, in their attemptsto avoid these storms, they
would have to make a series ofturns.
Which would put them on acollision course.
And because of the tall darkclouds, the pilots likely could
not see each other in an areawhere they were responsible for
avoiding each other.
(07:34):
As they were doing all thismoving around near the canyon,
it is believed that the planesmay have passed the same cloud
on opposite sides.
At about 1030 AM, the twoaircraft collided over the
canyon.
Later investigations determinedthat the DC 7 was banking to the
(07:55):
right and pitching down at thetime of collision.
Suggesting that one or possiblyboth of the pilots spotted the
constellation and attemptedevasive action.
The DC 7's upraised left wingsmacked the top of the
Constellation's verticalstabilizer and struck the
(08:15):
fuselage immediately ahead ofthe stabilizer's base, causing
the tail assembly to break awayfrom the rest of the airframe.
The propeller on the DC 7's leftoutboard, or number one engine,
ripped a series of gashes intothe bottom of the
Constellation's fuselage.
Decompression would haveoccurred from this damage, a
(08:38):
theory that was mostly confirmedby the light debris, such as
cabin furnishings and personaleffects, being scattered over a
large area.
The separation of the tailassembly from the constellation
resulted in them immediatelylosing control of the aircraft.
Causing it to enter into avertical terminal velocity dive,
(09:00):
plunging into the Grand Canyonat an estimated speed of over
700 feet per second, or roughly480 miles per hour.
The constellation slammed intothe north slope of a ravine on
the northeast slope of TempleButt, or Butte, however you say
it, B U T T E, however the hellyou say that.
(09:21):
but, and basically disintegratedon impact, killing everybody on
board.
A large fire, fueled by aviationgasoline, ensued.
The severed tail assembly, badlybattered, but still somewhat
recognizable.
Had come to rest nearby.
The DC 7's left wing to the leftof the number one engine was so
(09:46):
badly fucked up by the impact itwas no longer capable of
producing substantial lift.
The engine had been seriouslyFucked up too, and the combined
loss of lift and propulsion leftthe crippled plane in a rapidly
descending left spiral fromwhich they would never be able
(10:07):
to recover.
Now the airspace over the canyonwas not under any sort of radar
observation.
There was no homing beacons,cockpit recorders, or flight
data recorders aboard eitheraircraft.
They didn't have that shit backthen.
The last position reportsreceived from the flights did
(10:27):
not reflect their locations atthe time of the collisions.
And there was no crediblewitnesses to the collision
itself or the subsequentcrashes.
The only sign of trouble waswhen United Company radio
operators in Salt Lake City andSan Francisco got a transmission
from Flight 718.
Which would be the last fromeither aircraft.
(10:49):
Civil Aeronautics Board AccidentInvestigation Engineers later
deciphered the transmission,which had been preserved on
magnetic tape, as the voice ofco pilot Robert Harms declaring,
Salt Lake.
718, we are going in.
The voice of Captain Shirley washeard in the background as
(11:10):
presumably struggling with thecontrols to no avail.
He implored the airplane to pullup, pull up.
After neither flight reportedtheir current position for some
time, the two aircraft weredeclared to be missing and
search and rescue proceduresstarted.
The wreckage was first seenlater in the day near the
Colorado and Little Coloradorivers by Henry and Palin
(11:34):
Hudgen.
These two were brothers whooperated a small Grand Canyon
Airlines.
Like an air taxi service.
During a trip early in the day,Palin had noted dense black
smoke rising near Temple Butt,which was where the
constellation went down.
He had initially ignored it,assuming it was just brush being
(11:56):
set ablaze by lightning.
But! Once they heard about themissing airliners, Palin decided
that what he had seen might justhave been smoke from a crash.
The two brothers would fly aPiper Tripacer into the canyon
and look for the location of thesmoke.
They would eventually find theConstellation's remains and
(12:17):
report it to authorities.
The next day, the two men wentout and found the wreckage of
the DC 7.
Numerous helicopter missionswould eventually be flown down
to the crash sites to find andattempt to identify victims as
well as recover wreckage foraccident analysis.
Which, all of this was verydifficult and dangerous because
(12:40):
of the rugged terrain and theair currents in the area were
Unpredictable and not thegreatest, the airlines would
eventually hire the Swiss AirRescue and some Swiss mountain
climbers to go down to the scenewhere the aircraft wreckage had
crashed.
They were sent down to gatherthe remains of the passengers
(13:01):
and their personal belongings.
This was given a shit ton ofpublicity in the U.
S.
news releases at the timebecause of the ruggedness of the
terrain where the crashesoccurred.
And due to the force of theimpacts, no bodies would be
recovered intact?
And positive identification ofthe remains was just not
(13:21):
possible.
On July 9th, a mass funeral forthe victims of TWA Flight 2 was
held at the Canyon South Rim.
29 unidentified victims of theUnited flight were buried in
four coffins at the Grand CanyonPioneer Cemetery.
76 of the 70 TWA passengers andcrew are buried in a mass grave
(13:46):
at Citizen's Cemetery inFlagstaff, Arizona.
It would take them yearsfollowing the accident before
most of the wreckage was removedfrom the canyon.
In fact, some of the aircraft isStill down there.
Jack Parshall, a pilot and aircrash investigator, would become
the lead investigator from theCivil Aeronautics Board on the
(14:10):
investigation into the accident.
The investigation was not madeeasy due to the remoteness of
the crash sites as well as theextent of the damage caused to
the two planes and the lack ofreal time flight data.
But, despite the considerabledifficulties, the Civil
Aeronautics Board experts wereable to determine with a pretty
(14:34):
good degree of certainty of whathad transpired, and in the
report issued the followingstatement as probable cause for
the accident.
The board determines that theprobable cause of this mid air
collision was that the pilotsdid not see each other in time
to avoid the collision.
It is not possible to determinewhy the pilots did not see each
(14:59):
other, but the evidence suggeststhat it results from any one or
a combination of the followingfactors.
Intervening clouds reducing timefor visual separation.
Visual limitations due tocockpit visibility and
preoccupation with normalcockpit duties.
(15:21):
Preoccupation with mattersunrelated to cockpit duties,
such as attempting to providethe passengers with a more
scenic view of the Grand Canyonarea.
Physiological limits to humanvision reducing the time,
opportunity to see and avoid theother aircraft or
(15:42):
insufficiencies of enroute airtraffic advisory information due
to inadequacies of facilitiesand lack of personnel in air
traffic control.
In this report, weather andairworthiness of the two planes
were thought to have played norole in the accident.
(16:02):
Lacking any eyewitnesses andwith some uncertainty regarding
high altitude visibility at thetime of collision, it was not
possible to determineconclusively how much
opportunity was available foreither pilot to see and avoid
each other.
Neither flight crew wasimplicated in the findings of
(16:25):
probable cause.
Although, the decision byCaptain Gandhi to cancel his IFR
flight plan and fly 1, 000 ontop was the likely cause of the
accident.
The investigation itself waspretty thorough, but the final
report focused on technicalissues and largely ignored human
(16:47):
factors.
Like, why were the airlinespermitting their pilots to
execute maneuvers solelyintended to improve the
passenger's view of the canyon?
It would not be until the late1970s that human factors would
be as thoroughly investigated astechnical matters following
aerial mishaps.
(17:07):
So, basically, to me what itsounds like is, person can fuck
up and they wouldn't look at itlike they would if, you know,
something in the plane failed orwhatever.
At 128 dead, the Grand CanyonCollision became the deadliest
U.
S.
commercial airline disaster anddeadliest air crash on U.
(17:28):
S.
soil of any kind surpassing aUnited Airlines flight the year
before.
It would hold this record untilDecember 16th, 1960.
When there was a mid aircollision in New York, which
also involved United Airlinesand TWA.
However, it is still thedeadliest aviation disaster in
(17:51):
the state of Arizona, so itstill has one record.
The air traffic controller whohad cleared Captain Gandy to a
thousand on top was severelycriticized as he had not advised
Captains Gandy and Shirley aboutthe potential for a traffic
conflict even though he had tohave known that it was a
possibility.
(18:12):
He was publicly blamed for theaccident by both airlines and
the press tore his ass apart.
But he was officially cleared ofany wrongdoing.
The then assistant ATC directorCharles Carmody testified during
the investigation neither flightwas legally under the control of
(18:33):
ATC when they collided.
The controller was not requiredto issue any sort of advisory to
the pilots.
And according to the CivilAeronautics Board Accident
Investigation Final Report.
The controller had relayed atraffic advisory regarding
flight 718 to TWA's ground radiooperator.
(18:55):
This TWA operator testified thatCaptain Gandy acknowledged the
information on the Unitedflight.
And this accident really fuckedup the public's confidence in
air travel.
At this point, travel by air hadbecome routine for large
corporations and people going onvacations.
A lot of people were starting tochoose flying over traveling by
(19:19):
train.
At the time, a congressionalcommittee was reviewing domestic
air travel as there was growingconcerns over the number of
accidents.
However, little progress hadbeen made in the state of a TC
at the time of the Grand Canyonaccident was still relying on
method on methods they used.
(19:40):
In the 1930s, the public wouldpush for something to be done as
more mid air collisions and nearmisses happened.
Soon, congressional hearingswould follow, and in 1957,
increased funding was allowed tomodernize the ATC, to hire and
train more air trafficcontrollers, and get some more
(20:04):
radar, and not just the militarysurplus they had been using.
Control of American airspace wasstill split between the
military.
In the Civil AeronauticsAdministration, the CAA was the
agency in charge of air traffic,air traffic control at the time.
They had no authority overmilitary flights which could
(20:27):
enter controlled airspace withno warning to other traffic.
This resulted in a ton ofcollisions and near misses
between civil and militaryplanes.
In 1958, United Airlines Flight736 collided with an F 100 Super
(20:47):
Saver fighter jet near LasVegas, resulting in 49
fatalities.
And again, public was pissed,and they demanded more shit be
done.
So Congress had more hearings,and eventually the Federal
Aviation Act of 1958 was passed.
Which got rid of the CAA, andcreated the Federal Aviation
(21:11):
Agency.
Which is, yeah, it's, it's theFAA.
They changed the name in 1966 tothe Federal Aviation
Administration that we know now.
But, really, who the hell knowswhat FAA stood for.
And it doesn't really matter ifit's agency or administration,
it's the same damn thing.
The FAA was given total controlover American airspace,
(21:34):
including military activity.
And as procedures in ATCfacilities were modernized, mid
air collisions gradually becameless common.
On April 22nd, 2014, the site ofthe crash was declared a
National Historic Landmark,making it the first landmark for
(21:57):
an event that happened in theair.
The location is in a remote partof the canyon accessible only to
hikers.
And has been closed to thepublic since the 1950s.
And that was the mid aircollision over the Grand Canyon
in 1956.
Thanks for listening, and if youliked the show, please consider
(22:20):
leaving a rating or review onyour Apple choice.
Or reach out to the show athistoryisadisaster at gmail.
com.
Or through social media withcomments or suggestions.
Or, you know, you can just sharethe episode, cause sharing is
caring, and if there was morecaring in the world, maybe
(22:41):
history wouldn't be a disaster.
Thanks and goodbye.
On June 30th, 1956, two passenger planes collided into
each other while traveling overthe Grand Canyon.
There was no survivors.
One plane would end up crashinginto the canyon floor while the
other smashed into a cliff face.
(00:22):
So what happened?
Let's find out.
Hello, I'm Andrew and this isHistory's A Disaster.
Tonight we're taking a look intoa devastating mid air collision
that claimed multiple lives.
(00:42):
In the 1950s, commercial airtravel was still in its infancy.
Radar was still a relatively newtechnology and had only just
started seeing use in what wasconsidered critical cities.
Designating airways fornavigation and travel was just
starting to be used also.
(01:03):
The jet age had not quite hitthe commercial airlines yet
either.
They relied almost exclusivelyon propeller driven planes like
the Douglas DC 7 and theLockheed L 1049 Super
Constellation in today'sdisaster.
On the morning of June 30th, LAXwas busy as shit.
(01:25):
World War II had ended and thecountry's economy was booming.
More people could fly than everbefore.
The airport was busy, butprobably nothing like today.
Plus, they didn't have the TSAto deal with.
So that's gotta make it a lotbetter right there.
Anyways, waiting to take off wastwo planes, TWA Flight 2, a
(01:47):
super constellation flown byCaptain Jack Gandy, First
Officer James Rittner, andFlight Engineer Forrest
Brayfogle.
With a total of 64 passengers,they were waiting to go to
Kansas City.
And then you had United AirlinesFlight 718, a DC 7 flown by
(02:10):
Captain Robert Shirley, FirstOfficer Robert Harms, and Flight
Engineer Gerard Fiore.
Their 53 passengers waited tohead to Newark via Chicago's
Midway Airport.
At 9.
01, Captain Gandy departed LAX.
Another long and boring flightfor the captain.
(02:31):
He was well experienced withover 15, 000 flight hours and
had made this trip almost 200times already.
Initially, they were flyingunder instrument flight rules.
Which basically means they hadto rely on whatever basic ass
instruments they had on theplane.
They climbed to an authorizedaltitude of 19, 000 feet and
(02:53):
stayed in controlled airspace asfar as Daggett, California.
At Daggett, Captain Gandhiturned right to a heading of 59
degrees magnetic toward theradio range near Trinidad,
Colorado.
They were now off airways,otherwise known as flying in
uncontrolled airspace.
(03:14):
Uncontrolled airspace is anyairspace that does not have air
traffic control services.
Three minutes behind him,Captain Shirley got clearance to
take off.
Climbing to an authorizedaltitude of 21, 000 feet,
Captain Shirley flew under IFRand controlled airspace to a
(03:34):
point northeast of Palm Springs,California, where he turned left
towards a radio beacon nearNeedles, after which his flight
plan was direct to Durango insouthwestern Colorado.
Though still under IFR, theywere now heading into
uncontrolled airspace.
(03:54):
Although heading in differentdirections, both planes would
have to eventually cross theGrand Canyon.
shortly after takeoff, CaptainGandy requested permission to
climb to 21, 000 feet to avoid astorm that was brewing near his
flight path.
And, as was the pretty stupidpractice at the time, his
(04:14):
request had to be relayed by aTWA radio dispatcher to air
traffic control, since neithercrew was in direct contact with
ATC after departure.
ATC denied the request, the twoairliners would soon be re
entering controlled airspace.
Outside of Las Vegas, an ATC hadno way to provide the horizontal
(04:40):
separation required between twoaircraft at the same altitude.
So, Captain Gandy then requested1, 000 on top clearance.
1, 000 on top clearance meansthey'd have to fly 1, 000 feet
above the clouds.
This was approved by ATC.
By flying on top of the clouds,the aircraft would have to
(05:02):
switch to VFR.
Which is visual flight rules,and the pilot would be
responsible for their navigationand separation from other
aircraft.
The controller that approvedthis climb to a thousand feet on
top had not realized that overthe Grand Canyon that morning,
clouds had reached 20, 000 feet.
(05:23):
Although this clearance allowedCaptain Gandhi to fly at any
height at or above 21, 000 feet,he basically got permission for
the same exact flight that ATChad denied just minutes ago.
They did, however, pass alongthat Flight 718 would be flying
in the same area at 21, 000feet.
(05:45):
Captain Gandy would reply backthat he understood.
Upon receiving this clearance,Captain Gandy increased his
altitude to 21, 000 feet.
Now, both planes were at thesame altitude, and both had
estimated they would cross thePainted Desert Line at about
1031.
The Painted Desert Line is a 173mile long line between Utah and
(06:11):
Arizona.
Used by air traffic to provideinformation about where a flight
was in uncontrolled airspace.
A minute later, Flight 2 calledin, making a similar estimate.
The air traffic controllers nowknew that two aircraft would
likely be flying at the samealtitude crossing the Painted
(06:32):
Desert line at the same time.
However, since it could beanywhere along this path, And
they were in uncontrolledairspace, the responsibility to
avoid collision fell into thehands of the pilots.
So basically, they were in noman's land, it was not ATC's
problem at all.
(06:53):
Now, for unconfirmed reasons,both planes would take a more
northerly path than what theirflight plans had originally
called for.
It is believed that due tothunderstorms in the area to the
south, which the pilots may haveavoided to give passengers a
better view of the Grand Canyon.
(07:14):
Unfortunately, in their attemptsto avoid these storms, they
would have to make a series ofturns.
Which would put them on acollision course.
And because of the tall darkclouds, the pilots likely could
not see each other in an areawhere they were responsible for
avoiding each other.
(07:34):
As they were doing all thismoving around near the canyon,
it is believed that the planesmay have passed the same cloud
on opposite sides.
At about 1030 AM, the twoaircraft collided over the
canyon.
Later investigations determinedthat the DC 7 was banking to the
(07:55):
right and pitching down at thetime of collision.
Suggesting that one or possiblyboth of the pilots spotted the
constellation and attemptedevasive action.
The DC 7's upraised left wingsmacked the top of the
Constellation's verticalstabilizer and struck the
(08:15):
fuselage immediately ahead ofthe stabilizer's base, causing
the tail assembly to break awayfrom the rest of the airframe.
The propeller on the DC 7's leftoutboard, or number one engine,
ripped a series of gashes intothe bottom of the
Constellation's fuselage.
Decompression would haveoccurred from this damage, a
(08:38):
theory that was mostly confirmedby the light debris, such as
cabin furnishings and personaleffects, being scattered over a
large area.
The separation of the tailassembly from the constellation
resulted in them immediatelylosing control of the aircraft.
Causing it to enter into avertical terminal velocity dive,
(09:00):
plunging into the Grand Canyonat an estimated speed of over
700 feet per second, or roughly480 miles per hour.
The constellation slammed intothe north slope of a ravine on
the northeast slope of TempleButt, or Butte, however you say
it, B U T T E, however the hellyou say that.
(09:21):
but, and basically disintegratedon impact, killing everybody on
board.
A large fire, fueled by aviationgasoline, ensued.
The severed tail assembly, badlybattered, but still somewhat
recognizable.
Had come to rest nearby.
The DC 7's left wing to the leftof the number one engine was so
(09:46):
badly fucked up by the impact itwas no longer capable of
producing substantial lift.
The engine had been seriouslyFucked up too, and the combined
loss of lift and propulsion leftthe crippled plane in a rapidly
descending left spiral fromwhich they would never be able
(10:07):
to recover.
Now the airspace over the canyonwas not under any sort of radar
observation.
There was no homing beacons,cockpit recorders, or flight
data recorders aboard eitheraircraft.
They didn't have that shit backthen.
The last position reportsreceived from the flights did
(10:27):
not reflect their locations atthe time of the collisions.
And there was no crediblewitnesses to the collision
itself or the subsequentcrashes.
The only sign of trouble waswhen United Company radio
operators in Salt Lake City andSan Francisco got a transmission
from Flight 718.
Which would be the last fromeither aircraft.
(10:49):
Civil Aeronautics Board AccidentInvestigation Engineers later
deciphered the transmission,which had been preserved on
magnetic tape, as the voice ofco pilot Robert Harms declaring,
Salt Lake.
718, we are going in.
The voice of Captain Shirley washeard in the background as
(11:10):
presumably struggling with thecontrols to no avail.
He implored the airplane to pullup, pull up.
After neither flight reportedtheir current position for some
time, the two aircraft weredeclared to be missing and
search and rescue proceduresstarted.
The wreckage was first seenlater in the day near the
Colorado and Little Coloradorivers by Henry and Palin
(11:34):
Hudgen.
These two were brothers whooperated a small Grand Canyon
Airlines.
Like an air taxi service.
During a trip early in the day,Palin had noted dense black
smoke rising near Temple Butt,which was where the
constellation went down.
He had initially ignored it,assuming it was just brush being
(11:56):
set ablaze by lightning.
But! Once they heard about themissing airliners, Palin decided
that what he had seen might justhave been smoke from a crash.
The two brothers would fly aPiper Tripacer into the canyon
and look for the location of thesmoke.
They would eventually find theConstellation's remains and
(12:17):
report it to authorities.
The next day, the two men wentout and found the wreckage of
the DC 7.
Numerous helicopter missionswould eventually be flown down
to the crash sites to find andattempt to identify victims as
well as recover wreckage foraccident analysis.
Which, all of this was verydifficult and dangerous because
(12:40):
of the rugged terrain and theair currents in the area were
Unpredictable and not thegreatest, the airlines would
eventually hire the Swiss AirRescue and some Swiss mountain
climbers to go down to the scenewhere the aircraft wreckage had
crashed.
They were sent down to gatherthe remains of the passengers
(13:01):
and their personal belongings.
This was given a shit ton ofpublicity in the U.
S.
news releases at the timebecause of the ruggedness of the
terrain where the crashesoccurred.
And due to the force of theimpacts, no bodies would be
recovered intact?
And positive identification ofthe remains was just not
(13:21):
possible.
On July 9th, a mass funeral forthe victims of TWA Flight 2 was
held at the Canyon South Rim.
29 unidentified victims of theUnited flight were buried in
four coffins at the Grand CanyonPioneer Cemetery.
76 of the 70 TWA passengers andcrew are buried in a mass grave
(13:46):
at Citizen's Cemetery inFlagstaff, Arizona.
It would take them yearsfollowing the accident before
most of the wreckage was removedfrom the canyon.
In fact, some of the aircraft isStill down there.
Jack Parshall, a pilot and aircrash investigator, would become
the lead investigator from theCivil Aeronautics Board on the
(14:10):
investigation into the accident.
The investigation was not madeeasy due to the remoteness of
the crash sites as well as theextent of the damage caused to
the two planes and the lack ofreal time flight data.
But, despite the considerabledifficulties, the Civil
Aeronautics Board experts wereable to determine with a pretty
(14:34):
good degree of certainty of whathad transpired, and in the
report issued the followingstatement as probable cause for
the accident.
The board determines that theprobable cause of this mid air
collision was that the pilotsdid not see each other in time
to avoid the collision.
It is not possible to determinewhy the pilots did not see each
(14:59):
other, but the evidence suggeststhat it results from any one or
a combination of the followingfactors.
Intervening clouds reducing timefor visual separation.
Visual limitations due tocockpit visibility and
preoccupation with normalcockpit duties.
(15:21):
Preoccupation with mattersunrelated to cockpit duties,
such as attempting to providethe passengers with a more
scenic view of the Grand Canyonarea.
Physiological limits to humanvision reducing the time,
opportunity to see and avoid theother aircraft or
(15:42):
insufficiencies of enroute airtraffic advisory information due
to inadequacies of facilitiesand lack of personnel in air
traffic control.
In this report, weather andairworthiness of the two planes
were thought to have played norole in the accident.
(16:02):
Lacking any eyewitnesses andwith some uncertainty regarding
high altitude visibility at thetime of collision, it was not
possible to determineconclusively how much
opportunity was available foreither pilot to see and avoid
each other.
Neither flight crew wasimplicated in the findings of
(16:25):
probable cause.
Although, the decision byCaptain Gandhi to cancel his IFR
flight plan and fly 1, 000 ontop was the likely cause of the
accident.
The investigation itself waspretty thorough, but the final
report focused on technicalissues and largely ignored human
(16:47):
factors.
Like, why were the airlinespermitting their pilots to
execute maneuvers solelyintended to improve the
passenger's view of the canyon?
It would not be until the late1970s that human factors would
be as thoroughly investigated astechnical matters following
aerial mishaps.
(17:07):
So, basically, to me what itsounds like is, person can fuck
up and they wouldn't look at itlike they would if, you know,
something in the plane failed orwhatever.
At 128 dead, the Grand CanyonCollision became the deadliest
U.
S.
commercial airline disaster anddeadliest air crash on U.
(17:28):
S.
soil of any kind surpassing aUnited Airlines flight the year
before.
It would hold this record untilDecember 16th, 1960.
When there was a mid aircollision in New York, which
also involved United Airlinesand TWA.
However, it is still thedeadliest aviation disaster in
(17:51):
the state of Arizona, so itstill has one record.
The air traffic controller whohad cleared Captain Gandy to a
thousand on top was severelycriticized as he had not advised
Captains Gandy and Shirley aboutthe potential for a traffic
conflict even though he had tohave known that it was a
possibility.
(18:12):
He was publicly blamed for theaccident by both airlines and
the press tore his ass apart.
But he was officially cleared ofany wrongdoing.
The then assistant ATC directorCharles Carmody testified during
the investigation neither flightwas legally under the control of
(18:33):
ATC when they collided.
The controller was not requiredto issue any sort of advisory to
the pilots.
And according to the CivilAeronautics Board Accident
Investigation Final Report.
The controller had relayed atraffic advisory regarding
flight 718 to TWA's ground radiooperator.
(18:55):
This TWA operator testified thatCaptain Gandy acknowledged the
information on the Unitedflight.
And this accident really fuckedup the public's confidence in
air travel.
At this point, travel by air hadbecome routine for large
corporations and people going onvacations.
A lot of people were starting tochoose flying over traveling by
(19:19):
train.
At the time, a congressionalcommittee was reviewing domestic
air travel as there was growingconcerns over the number of
accidents.
However, little progress hadbeen made in the state of a TC
at the time of the Grand Canyonaccident was still relying on
method on methods they used.
(19:40):
In the 1930s, the public wouldpush for something to be done as
more mid air collisions and nearmisses happened.
Soon, congressional hearingswould follow, and in 1957,
increased funding was allowed tomodernize the ATC, to hire and
train more air trafficcontrollers, and get some more
(20:04):
radar, and not just the militarysurplus they had been using.
Control of American airspace wasstill split between the
military.
In the Civil AeronauticsAdministration, the CAA was the
agency in charge of air traffic,air traffic control at the time.
They had no authority overmilitary flights which could
(20:27):
enter controlled airspace withno warning to other traffic.
This resulted in a ton ofcollisions and near misses
between civil and militaryplanes.
In 1958, United Airlines Flight736 collided with an F 100 Super
(20:47):
Saver fighter jet near LasVegas, resulting in 49
fatalities.
And again, public was pissed,and they demanded more shit be
done.
So Congress had more hearings,and eventually the Federal
Aviation Act of 1958 was passed.
Which got rid of the CAA, andcreated the Federal Aviation
(21:11):
Agency.
Which is, yeah, it's, it's theFAA.
They changed the name in 1966 tothe Federal Aviation
Administration that we know now.
But, really, who the hell knowswhat FAA stood for.
And it doesn't really matter ifit's agency or administration,
it's the same damn thing.
The FAA was given total controlover American airspace,
(21:34):
including military activity.
And as procedures in ATCfacilities were modernized, mid
air collisions gradually becameless common.
On April 22nd, 2014, the site ofthe crash was declared a
National Historic Landmark,making it the first landmark for
(21:57):
an event that happened in theair.
The location is in a remote partof the canyon accessible only to
hikers.
And has been closed to thepublic since the 1950s.
And that was the mid aircollision over the Grand Canyon
in 1956.
Thanks for listening, and if youliked the show, please consider
(22:20):
leaving a rating or review onyour Apple choice.
Or reach out to the show athistoryisadisaster at gmail.
com.
Or through social media withcomments or suggestions.
Or, you know, you can just sharethe episode, cause sharing is
caring, and if there was morecaring in the world, maybe
(22:41):
history wouldn't be a disaster.
Thanks and goodbye.
Popular Podcasts
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.