Albany – Buffalo

On January 8, 1928 at 12:00 AM, Albany – Buffalo experienced a crash involving Fairchild FC-2, operated by Colonial Western Airways, with the event recorded near Rural Grove New York.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley 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. Few minutes after takeoff from Albany, while cruising southwest of Amsterdam, the pilot encountered poor visibility due to foggy conditions. While flying at low altitude, apparently to maintain a visual contact with the ground, the single engine aircraft hit tree tops in the Rural Grove State Forest and crashed. All three occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration NC3780, MSN 39, year of manufacture 1928.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 42.8481°, -74.4410°.