Piedmont Airlines Flight 349
The wreckage of Flight 349 in February 2002. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | October 30, 1959 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due to pilot error |
| Site | Bucks Elbow Mountain, Albemarle County, Virginia, U.S. (near Crozet, Virginia, U.S.) 38°06′15″N 78°43′53″W / 38.10417°N 78.73139°W |
| Aircraft | |
| A Piedmont Douglas DC-3, similar to the aircraft involved | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-3 |
| Aircraft name | Buckeye Pacemaker |
| Operator | Piedmont Airlines |
| Registration | N55V |
| Flight origin | Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C., United States |
| 1st stopover | Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport, Virginia, United States |
| Last stopover | Preston Glenn Airport, Virginia, United States |
| Destination | Roanoke Regional Airport, Virginia, United States |
| Occupants | 27 |
| Passengers | 24 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 26 |
| Injuries | 1 |
| Survivors | 1 (Ernest P. Bradley) |
On October 30, 1959, Piedmont Airlines Flight 349, a Douglas DC-3, crashed on Bucks Elbow Mountain near Crozet, Virginia, killing the crew of three and all but one of its twenty-four passengers. The sole survivor was seriously injured and lay on the ground near the wreckage, still strapped in his seat.