Page:Civil Aeronautics Board accident investigation report, National Airlines Flight 2511.pdf/1

 SA. 352

ADOPTED: July 26, 1960

At approximately 0238 e. s. t., January 6, 1960, a National Airlines DC-6B crashed in a field approximately 1-1/2 miles northwest of Bolivia, North Carolina. All 29 passengers and the crew of five were killed.

Flight 2511 of January 5, 1960, departed New York International (Idlewild) Airport at 2334 on an IFR clearance scheduled as a nonstop flight to Miami, Florida. The flight proceeded routinely in accordance with its flight plan until shortly after passing Wilmington, North Carolina.

At 0231 Flight 2511 contacted the company radio station at Wilmington while over Carolina Beach at 18,000 feet, and transmitted a routine progress report. Shortly after the completion of this radio contact a dynamite explosion occurred in the passenger cabin. Following this explosion the aircraft entered a wide descending right turn and crashed 1-1/2 miles northwest of Bolivia at 0238 some 16 miles west of its intended flight path.

No reference is made in this report concerning the placing of the dynamite aboard the aircraft or of the person or persons responsible for its detonation. The malicious destruction of an aircraft is a Federal crime. After the Board's determination that such was involved, the criminal aspects of this accident were referred to the Department of Justice through its Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Flight 2511 of January 5, 1960, was one of two aircraft used as replacements for Flight 601, which was scheduled as a nonstop Boeing 707 jet flight to depart Idlewild at 2115, utilizing Pan American Aircraft N 710PA under a lease agreement.

Owing to the late arrival of N 710PA from Miami, the flight was rescheduled to depart at 2215. During the turnaround inspection on N 710PA it was discovered that the copilot's No. 3 aft window was cracked and would require replacement. Since it was estimated that the replacement time would be about eight hours a National Lockheed Electra, N 5003K, and a National Douglas DC-6B, N 8225H, were substituted.

SCOMM-DC-27038