Investigation Summary
Flight 63 was a domestic scheduled passenger service operating a route from Cleveland to Memphis with five intermediate stops. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-3 that had been in service since 1936, arrived at Louisville at 21:42 CWT and departed at 21:54 CWT after refueling. Although originally cleared to fly at 4,000 feet, Captain Stiller requested a change to the flight plan just before takeoff, seeking to fly at 2,500 feet to Smiths Grove, Kentucky, and then at 2,000 feet toward Nashville. While en route, the aircraft encountered a localized but extremely violent thunderstorm. The resulting downdrafts were so powerful that the pilots were unable to maintain altitude despite the aircraft's proximity to the ground in an area of rolling terrain. The aircraft first contacted a clump of trees and continued through another small group before sliding approximately 1,000 feet across a field. Remarkably, the fuselage remained in an upright position after coming to a stop, but the impact and structural breakup resulted in the deaths of 20 people. Only two passengers survived the accident.
Final Conclusions
The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) concluded that the probable cause of the accident was the loss of control of the aircraft due to unusually severe turbulence and violent downdrafts caused by a thunderstorm of unknown and unpredictable intensity. The investigation was documented in CAB File No. 3525-43.
Video Analysis
No video analysis linked for this case file yet.
Airframe & Maintenance
Crew Experience
Pilot
Fatal
Copilot
Fatal
Systems & Failure Modes
Wright R-1820-G102 Engines
The aircraft was powered by two Wright Cyclone radial engines; there was no evidence of mechanical failure prior to the weather-induced loss of control.
Interesting Facts
- 01The aircraft, named Flagship Ohio, had logged 17,991 hours of flight time since its manufacture in 1936.
- 02The crash site was located in rolling terrain with elevations ranging from 695 to 720 feet above sea level.
- 03The aircraft traveled approximately 1,000 feet from the initial point of impact to its final resting position.
- 04Only two passengers survived the crash; all four crew members were killed.
- 05The flight was replaced on the same route by the Flagship Missouri, which also crashed three months later in October 1943.