Loudoun County Aviation Disasters
Since 1940, volunteers from Loudoun County have assisted with three airliner crashes. The first occurred in Lovettsville on August 31, 1940 when a the worst disaster in the history of commercial air travel (up until that time) occurred in Loudoun County. The incident became known as the Lovettsville air disaster, named for the small town near where the Pennsylvania Central Airlines Douglas DC-3 crashed. No definitive cause for the crash ever has been established, but bad weather was the major factor. The flight from Charlottesville to Washington DC was delayed half an hour in order to give the storm time to clear the area. Although thunderstorms still were in the area, the airplane — with 21 passengers and a crew of four — was cleared to take off. Just 23 minutes later the airplane slammed into a clearing 35 miles west of Washington, killing everyone on board. Go to the Loudoun County Aviation Disasters 1940 Lovettsville Crash for the full story.
On November 18, 1947, the second crash occurred at Lookout Rock in West Virginia, just across the border from Loudoun County. Pennsylvania Central Airlines Flight 410 departed Chicago at 13:52 for Norfolk with scheduled stops in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Washington. The aircraft encountered a thunderstorm on the leg from Chicago to Cleveland; the leg from Cleveland to Pittsburgh was uneventful. Approximately 30 minutes after takeoff from Pittsburgh, the aircraft was informed of air traffic delays and deteriorating weather conditions on the approach to Washington. Flight 410 struck the ridge in the Blue Ridge Mountains approximately two miles east of the Shenandoah River. All 50 passengers and crew on board were killed in what was (at the time) the second-worst airplane accident in the history of U.S. domestic air travel. All of the bodies were taken to down the Loudoun County side of the mountain due to the treacherous terrain on the West Virginia side. Go to Loudoun County Aviation Disasters - Friday the 13th, June 1947 Hillsboro Air Disaster.
The third crash occurred when TWA Flight 514, a Boeing 727-231 en route from Indianapolis, Indiana, and Columbus, Ohio, to Washington Dulles International, crashed into Mount Weather, Virginia, on December 1, 1974. All 85 passengers and 7 crew members were killed. Once again, Loudoun County Volunteers responded to the disaster. Former Loudoun County Fire Marshal Oliver Robert Dube was one of the first responders on the scene and for a period of time was the overall incident commander. Full story coming soon.
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