Knoxville - New Orleans

On December 5, 1971 at 11:23 PM, Knoxville - New Orleans experienced a crash involving Rockwell Aero Commander 680, operated by Air Lease, with the event recorded near New Orleans-Lakefront Louisiana.

The flight was categorized as executive/corporate/business and the reported phase was landing (descent or approach) at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

3 people were known to be on board, 3 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 1, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 2, passenger fatalities: 2, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. On a night approach to New Orleans-Lakefront Airport, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions with low ceiling. Unable to locate the runway, he abandoned the approach and initiated a go-around. Few minutes later, during a second attempt to land, he decided to descend below MDA when the twin engine airplane struck the water surface and crashed into Lake Pontchartrain few miles short of runway. All three occupants were killed but only two bodies were recovered.

Aircraft reference details include registration N78D, MSN 680-1580-33, year of manufacture 1966.