How US Air Travel was Affected by a Grand Canyon Disaster
On June 30, 1956, Trans World Airlines Flight 2, a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation with 64 passengers and 6 crew members departed Los Angeles bound for Kansas City at 9:01 AM on an IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) flight plan and a planned altitude of 19,000’. Three minutes later, United Airlines Flight 718, a DC-7 with 53 passengers and 5 crew members departed Los Angeles climbing to 21,000’ bound for Chicago. The planes’ paths would cross with 2,000’ of vertical separation approximately over the Grand Canyon. Shortly after takeoff, TWA