Plane crashes in Jackson, MS
- Thread starter HotMop
- Start date
The article I read said the owner of the plane related that it had been sitting in the hangar for about a month so they wanted to take it on a short trip to check it out. Said Raymond is about 25 miles from the Hawkins airport.
Short flights used to be fairly common. Back in the 60s there were commercial flights (Martin 404 and Lockheed Electra) flights from Huntsville to Decatur, probably a bit under 25 air miles. Good ole Southern Airways. And I once flew from Newport News to Norfolk on a commercial jet (can't remember what kind ... probably DC-9 or Boeing 727) in the late 70s-early 80s. Trip was actually a bit scary ... very low over the water at a high angle of attack.
Short flights used to be fairly common. Back in the 60s there were commercial flights (Martin 404 and Lockheed Electra) flights from Huntsville to Decatur, probably a bit under 25 air miles. Good ole Southern Airways. And I once flew from Newport News to Norfolk on a commercial jet (can't remember what kind ... probably DC-9 or Boeing 727) in the late 70s-early 80s. Trip was actually a bit scary ... very low over the water at a high angle of attack.
At first I was skeptical then I looked it up. Sure enough, Southern Scareways did fly between Huntsville and Decatur (crazy).
Interesting times in aviation, for sure. For a brief period in the 80's, United used to fly a DC-10 from Oakland to San Francisco, daily..a DC 10!! You can literally see one airport from the other, across the bay. This was obviously a positioning arrangement to get passengers from the east side of the bay to SFO for a trans-Pacific departure.
You're probably right about the reason, but a short flight on such a large plane can't help but be dangerous.
The present airport opened in 1968, and is known to the airlines as Huntsville-Decatur now, so those short hops ended then. The Jackson to Vicksburg isn't much better.
Southern Airways was scary I suppose, but they provided flights to small towns that now have no, or very limited, commercial service. Look at Columbus, Natchez, Vicksburg, Tupelo, The Shoals, etc. So Southern served a purpose. I suppose hubbing did away with small town commercial service for the most part.
Southern Airways was scary I suppose, but they provided flights to small towns that now have no, or very limited, commercial service. Look at Columbus, Natchez, Vicksburg, Tupelo, The Shoals, etc. So Southern served a purpose. I suppose hubbing did away with small town commercial service for the most part.
Southern Airways was the airline used to charter the Marshall football team back from a game with East Carolina in 1970. It crashed while on approach to Huntington, WV, in bad weather. In 1977, another Southern Airways DC-9 crashed en route to Atlanta from Huntsville. The flight encountered hail and torrential rain, which caused both engines to flameout. The crew tried to put the plane down on a highway, but weren't very successful. There were a small number of survivors, if I recall correctly.
Like many airlines Southern Arwys would have never survived deregulation in 1978. I think they were merged into Republic shortly after. But I'm old enough to remember when airlines used to fly big airplanes virtually everywhere. Delta flew MD-88s and 737s form Jackson to Monroe and Shreveport all the way up to 1999. It no longer made economic sense and 9/11 put a swift end to all of that type of flying, for good.
Like many airlines Southern Arwys would have never survived deregulation in 1978. I think they were merged into Republic shortly after. But I'm old enough to remember when airlines used to fly big airplanes virtually everywhere. Delta flew MD-88s and 737s form Jackson to Monroe and Shreveport all the way up to 1999. It no longer made economic sense and 9/11 put a swift end to all of that type of flying, for good.
There was an article in the newspaper not too long ago about the Huntsville to Atlanta crash. I remember it well ... was on my way home from class at UAH when I heard the news. Several people on the ground were also killed. I knew a couple of the people on the plane ... one was a neighbor who lived near me in an apartment a couple of years before, and her baby.
I was not aware that the Marshall team crash was on a Southern Airways flight.
I was not aware that the Marshall team crash was on a Southern Airways flight.
That's interesting. Southern Airways had more than their fair share of misfortune. But commercial flying just wasn't as safe as today. No where near!