American Airlines Flight 383 (1965)

American Airlines Flight 383

An American Airlines Boeing 727-123, similar to the one involved.
Accident summary
Date	November 8, 1965
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain (CFIT)
Site	Constance, Kentucky 39°5′11″N 84°39′43″W / 39.08639°N 84.66194°W / 39.08639; -84.66194Coordinates: 39°5′11″N 84°39′43″W / 39.08639°N 84.66194°W / 39.08639; -84.66194
Passengers	57
Crew	5
Fatalities	58
Injuries (non-fatal)	4
Survivors	4 (3 passengers and 1 crew member)
Aircraft type	Boeing 727-23
Operator	American Airlines
Registration	N1996
Flight origin	LaGuardia Airport New York City, United States
Destination	Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport Hebron, Kentucky, United States

American Airlines Flight 383 was a nonstop flight from New York City to Cincinnati on November 8, 1965. The aircraft was a Boeing 727, with 57 passengers, and 5 crew on board. The aircraft crashed on approach to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Only three passengers and one flight attendant survived the crash.

The aircraft involved was a Boeing 727-100 (registration number N1996), serial number 18901. The Boeing 727 was delivered to American Airlines on June 29, 1965, and had operated a total of 938 hours at the time of the accident.

The flight was delayed for 20 minutes in New York. Until the landing attempt, the flight from New York to Cincinnati was uneventful. At 18:45 Eastern Standard Time, the crew contacted the airline via ARINC company radio to report a 19:05 estimated time of arrival at Cincinnati. The weather was fine near the airport except for thunder clouds developing northwest of the airport across the Ohio River valley. At 18:57, Flight 383 was cleared by the approach controller for a visual approach to Cincinnati's runway 18, and was advised of precipitation just west of the airport. The aircraft approached the airport from the southeast and turned its heading to north to cross the Ohio River. It turned west after crossing to the northern shore of the Ohio River, intending to make a final turn to southeast after crossing the Ohio River (which runs from northwest to southeast) again to the southern shore of the river. After that final turn, the aircraft would line up with the runway 18 of the airport to make the final approach.

At 18:58, the approach controller transferred Flight 383 to the Cincinnati tower frequency. At 18:59, Flight 383 received clearance from the tower controller to land on runway 18.

The aircraft flew into thick cloud and thunderstorm after flying into the northwest of the airport. It descended more rapidly than it should have, without either pilot in the cockpit noticing. The airport is situated at an altitude of 853 feet (260 m) and the aircraft had descended to the level of 553 ft (169 m) above the airport while it was still about 5 mi (8.0 km) northeast of the airport. It descended to just 3 ft (per altimeter) above the airport while it was about 3 nm north of the airport. Its correct altitude should have been just below 1,000 ft (300 m) at that time. It continued its descent into the Ohio River valley while crossing the river back to the southern shore. When it made its last turn to the southeast to line up with the runway, it flew into the wooded slopes of the valley 3 km north of the runway threshold in poor visibility, at an altitude of -225 ft (i.e. 225 ft (69 m) below the runway's altitude). It then exploded and was engulfed in flames.