View source for Capital Airlines Flight 75

{{Short description|1959 aviation accident}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Cleanup rewrite|date=May 2024}}
{{No footnotes|date=July 2013}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| name            = Capital Airlines Flight 75|
| Crash image     = Vickers Viscount 745D, Capital Airlines JP7167210.jpg
| Image caption   = A Capital Airlines [[Vickers Viscount]] similar to the one which crashed.
| Date            = May 12, 1959
| Type            = In-flight [[Structural integrity and failure|structural failure]] following [[severe weather|weather-induced]] [[Loss of control (aeronautics)|loss of control]]
| occurrence_type = Accident
| Site            = [[Chase, Maryland]], United States
| coords          = {{coord|39|20.5|N|76|23.0|W|region:US-MD_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| Fatalities      = 31
| aircraft_type   = [[Vickers Viscount|Vickers 745D Viscount]]
| Operator        = [[Capital Airlines (United States)|Capital Airlines]]
| tail_number     = N7463
| origin          = [[LaGuardia Airport]]
| Ship name       = 
| destination     = [[Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport]]
| Occupants       = 31
| Passengers      = 27
| Crew            = 4
| Survivors       = 0
}}
'''Capital Airlines Flight 75''' was a domestic scheduled [[Capital Airlines (United States)|Capital Airlines]] [[passenger flight]] between [[LaGuardia Airport]] and [[Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport]] in Atlanta, Georgia.  A [[Vickers Viscount]] flying the route crashed near [[Chase, Maryland]], on May 12, 1959, with the loss of all on board.  The crash was the third of four involving a Capital Airlines Vickers Viscount in less than two years; the other three were [[Capital Airlines Flight 67]] (April 1958), [[Capital Airlines Flight 300]] (May 1958), and [[Capital Airlines Flight 20]] (January 1960).

== Accident ==
The flight left the terminal at La Guardia at 3:20 in the afternoon, 20 minutes behind schedule, and took off at 3:29.  It then climbed to 14,000 feet before coming onto the assigned [[Airway (aviation)|airway]], Victor 3.  At 4:02, the crew contacted [[Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center|Washington Center]], reporting over Westchester, and estimating Westminster to be 15 minutes away.  In the same message, they noted that [[thunderstorm]]s existed along the assigned course, and requested permission to navigate clear of the weather a little south of Westminster.  The [[air traffic controller]] acknowledged the message and gave the go-ahead.  At 4:10, the flight called again, the pilots noting that they had slowed somewhat to account for [[turbulence]].  This was the last message sent by the flight crew; three minutes later, the plane entered an area of severe [[turbulence]], lost control, and entered a steep descent.

The craft is believed to have reached an [[airspeed]] of 335 knots, fully 15% more than the Viscount's [[never exceed speed]], and about 5% in excess of the maximum speed demonstrated when the plane was certified.  Consequently, at about 5000 feet, both of the [[horizontal stabilizer]]s failed at once, separating downward.  The separation caused the plane to pitch violently nose-down; the [[gyroscopic]] loads combined with [[inertia]] caused all four engine nacelles to break upward.  Both wings were then subjected to extreme downloads.  Under the pressure, the right wing separated, and the integrity of the left was completely destroyed.

With so much of the aircraft's superstructure gone, the left wing induced drag on the [[fuselage]], yawing it violently to the left.  More forces from that direction tore off the [[vertical stabilizer]], which came away with portions of the [[fuselage]], already weakened from losing the left stabilizer.  Further gyrations caused the left wing to disintegrate, opening its [[fuel tank]]s and leading to a [[flash fire]].  What was left of the fuselage crumbled, and the craft plunged to the ground.

== Cause ==
The cause of the accident was determined to be a loss of control of the plane in turbulence, resulting in an involuntary steep descent, which created [[aerodynamic load]]s in excess of those for which the craft had been designed.

==References==
* {{ASN accident|id=19590512-1}}

==External links==
* [https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/33614 Final Report]<!--Old URL: http://web.archive.org/web/20200211064415/https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/33614/dot_33614_DS1.pdf--> - [[Civil Aeronautics Board]]
* [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1959/1959%20-%202833.html "Capital Viscount Accident Report"] - the findings reported in a 1959 issue of ''Flight''

{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1959}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in the 1950s}}

[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 1959]]
[[Category:Capital Airlines (United States) accidents and incidents|75]]
[[Category:1959 meteorology]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents caused by clear air turbulence]]
[[Category:1959 in Maryland]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight structural failure]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents in Maryland]]
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Vickers Viscount]]
[[Category:Chase, Maryland]]