Nantucket, Massachusetts – August 15, 1958
Vintage Post Card View Of
Northeast Airlines Convair N91237
On the night of August 15, 1958, Northeast Airlines flight 258 took off from New York’s La Guardia Airport bound for Nantucket, Massachusetts, with thirty-one passengers and a crew of three. The aircraft was a Convair CV-240-2, (Reg. No. N90670).
At about 11:30 p.m., as the plane was making its landing approach to runway 24 at Nantucket Airport it encountered thick fog and low visibility causing the crew to loose sight of the runway. The plane crashed and burned 1450 feet short of the runway and 600 feet to the right of the center line.
Of the 34 people aboard, only nine survived, one being a 2-year-old child.
One story of luck connected to this tragedy is of a 14-year-old youth from East Providence, R. I., who was supposed to be aboard the plane. Instead of taking the flight, he opted to ride with a relative to Wareham, Massachusetts, to visit an aunt.
Eleven months earlier, on September 15, 1957, another Northeast Airliner crashed at the New Bedford Airport in New Bedford, Mass. To learn more, click here: New Bedford September 15, 1957.
Sources:
The Evening Star, (Washington D.C.), “Plane Dives In Fog Over Nantucket”, August 16, 1958.
The Pawtucket Times, (R. I.), “Nantucket Airliner Crash”, August 16, 1958, pg. 1
The Pawtucket Times, “East Providence Boy Passed Up Plane”; Dad’s Worries End”, August 16, 1958, pg. 1
The Nome Nugget, (Alaska), “22 Killed In Northeast Airline Crash Friday”, August 18, 1958, page 5
The Aviation Safety Network
