It was a beautiful day, so the captain decided to give his passengers a special treat. He diverted from his planned route so the passengers could get a good look at the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately another flight was doing the same thing and the two airplanes collided over the Grand Canyon on June 30, 1956, killing everyone on board. Thus ended the days of free flight when even airliners were allowed to fly pretty much wherever they wanted to with no control or restrictions. It seems incredible today to imagine airspace free of airways or restricted airspace. There also was little in the way of navigational guidance. The range approach was considered a great advance in its day, even though it required the pilot to determine which leg he was on by listening carefully for dits and dahs through the static.
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