United Air Lines Flight 624
A DC-6 similar to the aircraft involved in the accident | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | June 17, 1948 |
| Summary | False fire warning led to CO2 fire extinguisher deployment; subsequent crew incapacitation |
| Site | Conyngham Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States 40°49′14″N 76°21′40″W / 40.820427°N 76.361042°W |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-6 |
| Aircraft name | Mainliner Utah |
| Operator | United Air Lines |
| Registration | NC37506 |
| Flight origin | Lindbergh Field, San Diego, United States |
| 1st stopover | Los Angeles International Airport, California, United States |
| Last stopover | Chicago Municipal Airport, Illinois, United States |
| Destination | LaGuardia Airport, New York City, United States |
| Occupants | 43 |
| Passengers | 39 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 43 |
| Survivors | 0 |
United Air Lines Flight 624 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from San Diego, California, to New York City, with stopovers in Los Angeles and Chicago. The four-engined, propeller-driven Douglas DC-6 crashed at 1:41 pm Eastern Daylight Time on June 17, 1948, outside Aristes, Pennsylvania, resulting in the deaths of all 4 crew members and 39 passengers on board. The crew had deployed the aircraft's CO2-based fire extinguisher system, without opening the pressure relief valves designed to ventilate CO2 out of the cabin. The part-incapacitated crew then began an emergency descent and subsequently crashed into a hillside.