On the 30th of June, 1956, a passenger flight departed Los Angeles bound for Kansas City.
Minutes later another aircraft took off from Los Angeles bound for Chicago.
Neither plane would reach its destination.
Instead, both would end up in the Grand Canyon, having been involved in the first commercial
aviation accident to cost more than 100 people their lives.
In the 1950s travelling by plane was a somewhat exclusive experience.
The cost of travel meant that not everyone could afford to fly, and those who did were
often treated to a luxurious journey.
On board aircraft you might find specially-designed sleeping berths, fully-stocked bars, cigarettes
for sale to be smoked during the flight, and comfortable seats complete with tables off
which passengers would eat pre-prepared gourmet meals.
Air travel was a growing industry, with different airlines vying to offer the best experience,
and persuade more people to fly rather than use ground-based transport.
Because of this, service on planes in the 1950s was a priority.
In contrast with the sophisticated customer service, air traffic control was relatively
basic.
Radar had been developed during the war, but was not yet used to track commercial flights.
Instead, pilots navigated using their instruments and relayed their position regularly to their
own company’s air traffic controllers.
These controllers kept track of planes using a system of paper tokens, physical maps and
tables.
Controllers from different airlines would sometimes share relevant information with
one another, but were not required to do so by law.
Flights would be most carefully managed when in controlled airspace – for example when
above a city or near an airport.
When away from these busy areas, however, pilots would (weather permitting) often be
allowed to fly under visual flight rules.
That is to say, with the pilots taking responsibility for observing their surroundings and avoiding
conflict with nearby flights.
This allowed pilots freedom to make small alterations to their course.
They might, for example, detour around adverse weather, or even make a slight change in heading
to afford passengers a better view.
On the 30th of June, 1956, a Trans World Airlines (or TWA) Lockheed L-1049A Super Constellation
took off from Los Angeles Airport at 9:01am, bound for Kansas City Downtown Airport.
There were 70 people on board: 64 passengers and six members of crew.
Just a few minutes later another flight departed Los Angeles Airport.
This time it was a United Airlines Douglas DC-7 with 58 people on board: 53 passengers
and five crew.
It was headed for Chicago’s Midway Airport, and got airborne at 9:04am.
Both flights would, for the initial part of the journey, be flying broadly in the same
direction across the country.
The pilots of both flights independently chose to make slight alterations to their courses
to pass directly over the Grand Canyon, and offer their passengers some spectacular views
as they did so.
Both flights would reach a particular waypoint – the Painted Desert Line – at around
the same time.
At the controls of the TWA flight was Captain Jack Gandy – a 41-year-old man with almost
15,000 flight hours to his name.
Shortly after take-off Captain Gandy requested permission to ascend to 6,400 metres (or 21,000
feet) in order to avoid a bank of cloud.
His request was denied, as the United Airlines flight was nearby and already at that altitude.
Captain Gandy still wanted to avoid the clouds ahead, and so he requested permission to go
“1,000 on top” – meaning that he would take the plane up until it was at least 300
metres (or 1,000 feet) above any cloud and switch to visual flight rules, thus assuming
responsibility for watching for other air traffic around him.
Air traffic controllers approved this request, and advised him to watch out for the United
Airlines flight, which would be in his general vicinity.
Captain Gandy could have taken the TWA flight up to any altitude more than 300 metres (or
1,000 feet) above the cloud.
Unfortunately he selected an altitude of 6,400 metres (or 21,000 feet) – the same altitude
as that of the United Airlines flight.
At around 10:30am, as the two flights were both manoeuvring around cloud at the same
altitude, they collided.
Despite the United Airlines flight making a last-second attempt to avoid impact by pitching
down and to the right, the collision was catastrophic.
The tail of the TWA Super Constellation was severed in the crash, sending the plane into
a rapid nosedive.
It slammed into a ravine on the northeast slope of Temple Butte in the Grand Canyon
and disintegrated, killing everyone on board.
A fire swiftly consumed the wreckage.
Meanwhile the United Airlines Douglas DC-7 suffered severe damage to one wing and one
engine, sending it into an irretrievable downward spiral.
It impacted the south face of Chuar Butte at high speed, resulting in the instant death
of everyone on board.
Again the impact caused the plane to disintegrate, and fire tore through the wreckage that remained.
In the absence of radar, it was not immediately apparent to air traffic controllers what had
happened to the two aircraft.
It was concerning that neither had checked in when they should have done, at 10:31am
as they crossed the Painted Desert Line, but it was not a cause for alarm until some time
had passed.
At 11:51am a notice was issued advising that the planes were missing, and asking all pilots
in the area to report anything unusual.
One pair of pilots did.
Henry and Palen Hudgin ran Grand Canyon Airlines, a sightseeing air tour service.
Palen had seen a plume of black smoke near Temple Butte earlier in the day, but had assumed
it was merely a small brush fire.
Now aware that two commercial airliners were missing, he and his brother took a second
look, and soon spotted the distinctive three-pronged tail of the TWA flight in a ravine, as well
as the wreckage of the United Airlines flight on a ledge halfway up a sheer cliff face.
Once it was established that the aircraft had crashed – and the location of the main
crash sites – rescuers were despatched by helicopter.
They were able to access the remains of the TWA flight, and quickly concluded that there
were no survivors.
Reaching the remains of the United Airlines flight where it was perched on a ledge midway
up the wall of Chuar Butte was considerably more difficult.
Assistance was given by the Denver Rocky Mountain Rescue Club, and later by a group of expert
Swiss Mountaineers.
They were hired to retrieve both vital evidence, and any human remains that could possibly
be identified.
Determining the cause of the crash was an extremely difficult process.
At the time cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders were not used.
It was only by examining the damage to the wreckage that investigators could piece together
the sequence of events.
Paint from each aircraft was found on the wreckage of the other.
This combined with an examination of recorded communications from the pilots allowed investigators
to assemble a chain of events.
Both flights had deviated from their planned courses, most likely to offer passengers a
view of the Grand Canyon.
The TWA Flight had been cleared to ascend under visual flight rules to the same altitude
as the United Airlines flight, and had done so even though visibility, and thus the pilot’s
ability to see other traffic, was reduced by cloud.
When the planes came within sight of one another through that cloud, it was too late to react,
and a catastrophic collision had been the result.
News of the accident, including its cause, was broadcast around the world.
The American public reacted with shock to the findings of the investigation.
The way in which air traffic control was carried out was criticised as primitive and chaotic.
Significant changes were demanded by a public that – having started to enjoy the benefits
of air travel – wanted to know that it was safe.
As a direct result of the crash, air traffic controllers across the country were retrained,
and many new controllers were hired.
Working practises were modernised, most notably by the incorporation or radar – previously
an exclusively military technology.
After several more accidents and near-misses, the Federal Aviation Administration was formed
– a centralised organisation responsible for the control of all air traffic in the
United States.
Since its formation, collisions between planes in flight have become increasingly rare.
Though some attempt was made to remove human remains and wreckage from the crash sites
by helicopter, it was difficult and dangerous work – so difficult and dangerous, in fact,
that it was left incomplete for many years.
From 1956 until 1976 wreckage and human remains were abandoned at the two crash sites, prompting
a small number of curious people to hike out in order to visit these areas.
Some visitors may even have taken items from the crash sites during this time.
In 1976, at the insistence of National Park Service officials, the airlines paid for the
removal of the majority of the remaining debris by helicopter.
Any small items that remained became officially protected by the Federal Antiquities Act in
2006, before the whole area was designated a National Historical Landmark in 2014.
A plaque in a publicly accessible area close to the site informs visitors of its significance.
It reads, “This tragic accident site represents a watershed moment in the modernization of
America's airways.”