What happened
On September 9, 1969, at approximately 15:29 EDT, an Allegheny Airlines DC-9 and a Forth Corporation Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee, registered N7374J, collided in flight. The incident took place roughly 4 miles northwest of Fairland, Indiana, at an altitude of about 3,550 feet.
At the time of the impact, the Allegheny flight was operating under positive radar control from Indianapolis Approach Control and was descending from 6,000 feet to a target altitude of 2,530 feet. The N7374J was being operated by a student pilot performing a solo cross-country flight under Visual Flight Rules (VFR).
While visibility in the region exceeded 15 miles, an intervening cloud layer prevented the crew of the DC-9 and the pilot of the Cherokee from detecting one another until moments before the collision. The impact and subsequent ground contact resulted in 86 fatalities, including all 78 passengers and four crew members on the DC-9, as well as the pilot of the PA-28. Both aircraft were completely destroyed.
Findings
Official investigations identified several systemic failures contributing to the accident. The primary cause was determined to be deficiencies in the FAA's air traffic control collision avoidance capabilities when managing mixed IFR and VFR traffic within a terminal area.
Specific contributing factors included:
- The inherent inadequacy of the 'see-and-avoid' principle under these specific flight conditions.
- Technical constraints regarding radar's ability to monitor all aircraft in the vicinity.
- A lack of existing Federal Aviation Regulations necessary to ensure proper separation between VFR and IFR operations in terminal airspace.