New York – Cleveland

On May 29, 1947 at 07:05 PM, New York – Cleveland experienced a crash involving Douglas DC-4, operated by United Airlines, with the event recorded near New York-LaGuardia New York.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was takeoff (climb) at a airport (less than 10 km from airport) crash site.

48 people were known to be on board, 43 fatalities were recorded, 5 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 89.6%.

Crew on board: 4, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 44, passenger fatalities: 41, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. Flight 521 taxied from its parked position, rolled onto Runway 18, and without pause or hesitation accelerated for take-off. The throttles were advanced. Air speed increased to above 90 miles per hour. Captain Baldwin applied back pressure to the control column, but the "feel" of the controls was "heavy," and the aircraft did not respond. As the aircraft raced toward the boundary of the field, Captain Baldwin decided to discontinue his take-off. About 1,000 feet from the south and of the runway he applied brakes, ordering the co-pilot at the same time to cut the engines. A ground-loop was attempted by heavy application of left brake. The aircraft, however, proceeded to roll straight ahead. Then, in the both brakes locked it continued over the remainder of the runway, crashed through the fence at the airport boundary, and half-bounced, half-flew across the Grand Central Parkway. The aircraft finally came to rest immediately east of the Casey Jones School of Aeronautics, a distance of 800 feet from the end of Runway 18 and 1,700 feet from the point at which brakes were first applied. It was almost immediate enveloped in flames. The captain, another crew member and three passengers were rescued while 43 other occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration NC30046, MSN 18324, year of manufacture 1944.