Some of the Douglas DC-7 wreckage collected for the crash investigation
Accident
Date
April 21, 1958; 66 years ago (1958-04-21)
08:30 PST (14:30 UTC)
Summary
Mid-air collision
Site
Enterprise, Nevada, United States 35°59′58″N115°12′17″W / 35.9994°N 115.2046°W / 35.9994; -115.2046 (DC7 crash site)
Total fatalities
49
Total survivors
0
First aircraft
The United Air Lines DC-7 involved in the accident
Type
Douglas DC-7
Operator
United Airlines
Call sign
United 7-3-6
Registration
N6328C
Flight origin
Los Angeles International Airport, California
1st stopover
Stapleton International Airport, Denver, Colorado
2nd stopover
Mid-Continent International Airport, Kansas City, Missouri
Last stopover
Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C.
Destination
Idlewild Airport, New York City
Passengers
42
Crew
5
Fatalities
47
Survivors
0
Second aircraft
North American F-100F fighter
Type
North American F-100F-5-NA Super Sabre
Operator
United States Air Force
Call sign
Sabre 7-5-5
Registration
56-3755
Flight origin
Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
Destination
Nellis Air Force Base
Crew
2
Fatalities
2
Survivors
0
United Air Lines Flight 736 was a scheduled transcontinental passenger service flown daily by United Airlines between Los Angeles and New York City. On April21, 1958, the airliner assigned to the flight, a Douglas DC-7 with 47 on board, was flying over Clark County, Nevada in clear weather when it was involved in a daytime mid-air collision with a United States Air Force fighter jet crewed by two pilots. Both aircraft fell out of control from 21,000 feet (6,400 m) and crashed into unpopulated desert terrain southwest of Las Vegas, leaving no survivors. The loss of Flight 736, one of a series of 1950s mid-air collisions involving passenger aircraft in American skies, helped usher-in widespread improvements in air traffic control within the United States, and led to a sweeping reorganization of federal government aviation authorities.
Among the DC-7 passengers were a group of military personnel and civilian contractors involved with sensitive Department of Defense weapons systems. Their deaths triggered new rules prohibiting similar groups engaged in critical projects from flying aboard the same aircraft.
The official investigation report cited cockpit visibility limitations and high closure speeds as contributing to the accident. While the report did not assign blame for the collision to either flight crew, it faulted military and civilian aviation authorities for not reducing well-known collision risks that had existed for over a year within the confines of airways, even after numerous complaints from airline crews.
A series of lawsuits were filed following the collision. In one case a judge stated the Air Force pilots did not use "ordinary care" in operation of the fighter jet, and should have yielded the right of way to the DC-7 airliner, despite the investigation assigning no blame to either flight crew for the collision. The judge also criticized the Air Force for not coordinating their training flights with civilian traffic, and for failing to schedule their flights to minimize traffic congestion. In another case, a settlement was reached where the U.S. Government paid United Airlines $1.45million in compensation.
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