Washington DC – Columbia

On July 12, 1945 at 02:36 PM, Washington DC – Columbia experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-3, operated by Eastern Airlines, with the event recorded near Darlington South Carolina.

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

24 people were known to be on board, 1 fatalities were recorded, 23 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 4.2%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 0, passengers on board: 20, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. While cruising at an altitude of 3,100 feet, the DC-3 collided with a USAAF Douglas A-26C-35-DT Invader. Registered 44-35553, it was performing a training sortie from Florence with a crew of two on board. Following the collision, the Invader went out of control and crashed in a field located near Darlington, some 12 miles northwest of Florence. Both crew members were killed. On his side, the crew of the DC-3 was able to make an emergency landing and one passenger was killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration NC25647, MSN 2235, year of manufacture 1940.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 34.3609°, -79.9439°.