Battle Creek – Cincinnati – Florence

On July 1, 1942 at 12:00 PM, Battle Creek – Cincinnati – Florence experienced a crash involving Douglas C-49 (DC-3), operated by United States Army Air Forces - USAAF, with the event recorded near Premier West Virginia.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

21 people were known to be on board, 21 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 19, passenger fatalities: 19, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. While approaching Cincinnati-Lunken Field Airport in poor weather conditions, the crew made three attempts to land without success. During the fourth attempt, the aircraft speed was too high and it hit hard the runway surface. The captain increased engine power and decided to continue to Florence, South Carolina. Few minutes later, while cruising in poor weather conditions (thunderstorm and turbulence), the aircraft banked left and right and eventually went out of control. From a height of 250 metres, it lost successively part of its wings and elevators, dove into the ground and crashed in an open field. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and post crash fire and all 21 occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration 42-56093, MSN 1976, year of manufacture 1937.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 37.4223°, -81.6437°.