What happened
On September 16, 1953, an American Airlines flight operating as Flight 723 was traveling from Boston to Chicago with scheduled stops. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-6 (implied by the era and context of American Airlines operations, though the source does not explicitly name the model, I will stick to the facts provided: the aircraft is referred to as part of the flight), arrived at Bradley Field, Connecticut, at 0-657. The crew had originally planned to proceed to Albany, New York, but weather conditions at the destination were below landing minimums due to heavy fog.
After departing Bradley Field at 0714 with 25 passengers, the flight was instructed by dispatchers to hold near Albany until visibility improved. At 0740, the crew requested and received clearance to fly at least 500 feet above the cloud layer while holding north of the Albany Range Station. During this period, several other aircraft were also in a holding pattern due to similar weather constraints.
While attempting an instrument approach to Runway 19, the crew was forced to abandon the maneuver because the wing flaps failed to extend. Following instructions from the tower regarding improved visibility from the west, the flight accepted a contact approach for Runway 10. During the execution of this approach, the aircraft struck radio towers and crashed at approximately 0834.
Findings
Investigation into the accident revealed that the pilot was maneuvering to align with the runway when the aircraft descended to an altitude lower than the height of obstructions. These radio towers were partially hidden by fog, which limited visual references. Although the aircraft's flaps had malfunctioned earlier in the approach, there was no evidence of any other mechanical or structural failure prior to the impact. The investigation concluded that the pilot should have aborted the contact approach given the low visibility and the presence of obscured obstacles.