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National Airlines Flight 2511 was a domestic passenger flight from New York City, New York to Miami, Florida that exploded in midair on January 6, 1960. The National Airlines Douglas DC-6 was carrying five crew and 29 passengers, all of whom perished. The Civil Aeronautics Board investigation concluded that the plane was brought down by a dynamite bomb. No criminal charges were ever filed, nor was the blame for the bombing ever determined, though a suicide bombing is suspected. The investigation remains open today. One of the victims was retired US Navy Vice Admiral Edward Orrick McDonnell, a Medal of Honor recipient and veteran of both World Wars. == Flight history == National Airlines' New York-Miami route was usually flown by a Boeing 707 as Flight 601. On January 5, 1960, the 707 aircraft scheduled to fly to Miami was grounded due to cracks that were discovered in the cockpit windshield. The windshield replacement procedure would take eight hours to perform, so National Airlines transferred the passengers of Flight 601 to two propliner aircraft it had in reserve. Passengers were boarded on the two replacement planes on a first-come, first-served basis. 76 passengers boarded a Lockheed L-188 Electra. This aircraft flew to Miami and arrived safely. The remaining 29 passengers boarded a Douglas DC-6B, which departed Idlewild Airport for Miami as Flight 2511. They were accompanied by two stewardesses, pilot Dale Southard, copilot R.L. Hentzel, and flight engineer R.R. Halleckson. The plane departed New York at and was scheduled to arrive in Miami at on January 6. The aircraft, registration was described as being in good condition. It had four Pratt and Whitney R-2800 CB-16 engines and had accumulated 24,836 hours of flight time prior to this flight. Flight 2511's flight plan called for it to fly south from New York to Wilmington, North Carolina, where it would veer east over the Atlantic Ocean. From there it would fly south over the ocean to Palm Beach, Florida. The crew maintained radio contact with National Airlines' radio controllers and air traffic control, reporting clouds and instrument flying conditions. The crew checked in with Wilmington Airport at , and later reported flying over the Carolina Beach radio beacon at 2:31. This was the last radio contact with the airplane. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「National Airlines Flight 2511」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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