U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis today marked National Park Week by announcing the designation of four new national historic landmarks:
- Adlai Stevenson II Farm in Illinois,
- The Detroit Industry Murals in Michigan,
- George Nakashima Woodworker Complex in Pennsylvania, and
- 1956 Grand Canyon TWA-United Airlines Aviation Accident Site in Arizona.
Below is a brief description of the mid-air crash of two airliners over the Grand Canyon.
1956 Grand Canyon TWA-United Airlines Aviation Accident Site, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona.
On June 30, 1956, a Trans World Airlines Super Constellation L-1049 and a United Airlines DC-7 collided in uncongested airspace 21,000 feet over the Grand Canyon in Arizona, killing all 128 people onboard the two flights. The tragedy spurred an unprecedented effort to modernize and increase safety in America’s postwar airways, culminating in the establishment of the modern Federal Aviation Administration. Other improvements that resulted from the crash included nationwide radar coverage, a common military/civilian navigation system, and the development of technologies such as collision avoidance systems and flight data recorders.
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Located in a corner of the parks south rim cemetery is a marker with the names of the victims from the crash and buried there I believe the unidentified remains of victims.
The crash site was cleaned up a number of years ago by the park service.
According to a airline pilot friend of mine who flew in that era is was a common practice for aircraft to divert over the Grand Canyon for sightseeing. He said that during WWII he was in a flight of B-25 bombers that “flew the deck” up river the length of the canyon single file.
When I worked there 30 plus years ago private and military aircraft flew through occasionally at very low altitudes including the inner canyon. A very new Jet Ranger helicopter with just a few hours on the hobbs meter tried to fly under the Iron bridge near Phantom Creek and ended up in the river after hitting a cable across the river.
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