1969 Allegheny Airlines and Piper Cherokee Midair Collision Near Fairland, Indiana (N988VJ)

Accident Overview and Casualties On September 9, 1969, at approximately 1529 e.d.t., an Allegheny Airlines DC-9 and a Forth Corporation Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee, registered N7374J, collided in flight approximately 4 miles northwest of Fairland, Indiana. The collision occurred at an altitude of approximately 3,550 feet. All 83 occupants of the DC-9, consisting of 78 passengers and four crew members, and the pilot of the PA-28 were fatally injured. Both aircraft were destroyed by the collision and subsequent ground impact. ## Operational Context Allegheny flight AL853 was under positive radar control of the Federal Aviation Administration's Indianapolis Approach Control. At the time of the collision, the DC-9 was descending from 6,000 feet to an assigned altitude of 2,530 feet. The Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee, registered N7374J, was being flown by a student pilot on a solo cross-country flight in accordance with a Visual Flight Rules (VFR) flight plan. ## Weather and Visibility The visibility in the area was at least 15 miles. However, an intervening cloud condition precluded the crew of either aircraft from sighting the other until a few seconds prior to the collision. ## Probable Cause The official investigation attributed the accident to deficiencies in the collision avoidance capability of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system of the Federal Aviation Administration in a terminal area with mixed Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and Visual Flight Rules (VFR) traffic. These deficiencies included the inadequacy of the see-and-avoid concept under the circumstances of the case, the technical limitations of radar in detecting all aircraft, and the absence of Federal Aviation Regulations providing a system of adequate separation of mixed VFR and IFR traffic in terminal areas.