One Of The Deadliest Accidents In U.S. History Happened Right Here In Indiana
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Courtney Johnston
Author
Indiana has known its fair share of natural disasters, from major flooding to unbelievable snowstorms to horrific tornadoes. However, a horrific plane crash also occurred right here – and it’s one of the worst plane crashes in U.S. history.
On September 9th in 1969, Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 crashed in mid-air with a private aircraft, a Piper PA-28. The planes collided near Fairland, Indiana.
The Allegheny aircraft was carrying 78 passengers and 4 crew members and the private aircraft had one occupant, a student pilot attempting to fly across country. All 83 occupants were killed in the collision.
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The Allegheny aircraft had been headed to St. Louis, Missouri when the crash occurred. The main cause of collision was inadequate rules of the airway (the see-and-avoid policy) and a lack of a transponder on the private aircraft to help avoid collisions.
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Today, most aircraft contain transponders and technology to warn about nearby transponder equipped aircraft, along with conflict-alert software installed on their radar systems to prevent collisions.
You can learn more about this historic tragedy below:
Luckily, no civilians on the ground in Indiana were harmed, but this devastating plane crash will never be forgotten. For more tragedies that occurred in Indiana, read about the 6 worst disasters to occur in our state’s history.
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