Washington DC – Pittsburgh

On August 31, 1940 at 02:41 PM, Washington DC – Pittsburgh experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-3, operated by Pennsylvania Central Air Lines, with the event recorded near Lovettsville Virginia.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

25 people were known to be on board, 25 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 4, passengers on board: 21, passenger fatalities: 21, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is weather. Twenty minutes after its departure from Washington DC-Hoover Airport, while cruising in poor weather conditions at an altitude of some 4,000 feet, the aircraft went out of control, dove into the ground and crashed in a mountainous area. All 25 occupants were killed, among them the Senator of Minnesota Ernest Lundeen. Crew: Lowell V. Scoggins, pilot, J. Paul Moore, copilot, Margaret Carson, flight attendant, John B. Staire, Jr, secretary to the District Traffic Manager. Passengers: Miss Dorothy Beer, Mr. E. G. Bowler, Mr. W. M. Burleson, Mr. W. B. Chambers, Miss Mildred Chesser, Dr. Charles D. C. Cole, Miss Naomi Colpo, Mr. A. H. Elliott, Mr. William Garbose, Miss Evelyn Goldsmith, Mrs. Rose Z. Hale, Mr. Arthur Hollaway, Mr. H. J. Hofferth, Mr. D. P. James, Senator Ernest E. Lundeen, Mr. M. P. Mahan, Mr. Adolph Mook, Mr. Joseph J. Pesci, Miss Chloe Post, Mr. E. J. Tarr, Miss Margaret Tuner.

Aircraft reference details include registration NC21789, MSN 2388, year of manufacture 1940.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 39.2748°, -77.6393°.