1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision

On Monday July 1st 1956, Americans woke up to tune in their radios, channel in their T.V.’s, or unwrinkled their newspapers to horrific news. Gruesome headlines, and bewildered anchors spread the news that the unthinkable, and impossible happened the previous day. In the pristine and picturesque skies over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, tragedy struck in a way that would forever shock and change the world of aviation in ways never before imagined. Two airplanes collided unexpectedly in mid-air. The events leading up to the disaster, along with the proceeding investigations, would expose major flaws in aviation systems and give birth to new ideas and ways of thinking that would forge the aviation world, as we know it today. It turns out that the “big sky” wasn’t as big as everyone thought it to be. On Saturday June 30th, a United Airlines Flight 718, a Douglass DC-7, awaited its final clearance to depart Los Angeles International Airport to…

In 1956, there was a mid-air collision in Grand Canyon. A Douglas DC-7 (United Airlines) collide with a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation (Trans World Airlines) resulting in killing every single person in those two airplanes, which were 128 people total. When the Civil Aeronautics Board investigated this tragedy, they found out that ground controller in the Salt Lake City knew about that those two airplanes were on a crash course. However, since those two airplanes were in the uncontrolled…