On May 12, 1959, Capital flight CA983, a Lockheed 49E Constellation (fleet n° 755/N2735A) operating between Pittsburgh and Atlanta via Charleston, West Virginia, landed on the wet runway of Kanawha County Airport, Charleston. When the brakes proved ineffective, the pilot attempted to ground loop the aircraft. The airplane skidded down an embankment and caught fire. Two of the 43 people on board lost their lives in the crash. Less than one hour later, flight CA75, a Viscount 745D (fleet n° 381/N7463) flying from New York (LaGuardia) to Atlanta, broke up in severe turbulence in an area of thunderstorms over rural Maryland. The aircraft was subjected to stresses beyond its design load and the pilots lost control; all 27 passengers and four crew perished in the accident.
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