TWA Flight 400
A Martin 4-0-4 similar to the accident aircraft | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | April 1, 1956 |
| Summary | Mechanical failure followed by pilot error |
| Site | Moon Township, Allegheny County, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Aircraft type | Martin 4-0-4 |
| Operator | Trans World Airlines |
| Registration | N40403 |
| Flight origin | Pittsburgh International Airport, Pennsylvania (PIT/KPIT) |
| Destination | Newark International Airport, New Jersey (EWR/KEWR) |
| Passengers | 33 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 22 (passengers:21 crew:1) |
| Survivors | 14 (passengers:12 crew:2) |
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On April 1, 1956, a Martin 4-0-4, registration #N40403, operating as TWA Flight 400, crashed on takeoff from Greater Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT). Twenty-two of the 36 people aboard the aircraft, including one crewmember (Hostess Mary Jane Fanning), perished in the evening crash on Easter Sunday.
Flight 400 was to be an eastbound IFR flight from Pittsburgh to Newark International Airport (EWR) in New Jersey, with scheduled stops in eastern Pennsylvania at Harrisburg, Reading, and Allentown. On this particular flight, the first officer (Harlan V. Jesperson) was in the left seat, as he was being line-checked by the captain (Raymond F. McQuade); both pilots survived.