50 years after 72 people die in Charlotte plane crash, it’s getting new attention

CHARLOTTE — It’s been nearly 50 years since Eastern Airlines Flight 212 crashed in Charlotte, killing 72 people. Now, a handful of survivors are sharing their stories as the crash gets new attention.

>> Read the Charlotte Observer’s coverage here.

Wednesday will mark 50 years since the crash, which was Charlotte’s deadliest air disaster. Eastern Airlines Flight 212 was on its way to Chicago from Charleston with what was supposed to be a brief stop in Charlotte.

At 7:33 a.m. on Sept. 11, 1974, it crashed just 3.3 miles from the Charlotte airport, killing 72 of the 82 people on board the $4 million jet.

Our partners at the Charlotte Observer have spent the past year investigating the crash and telling the stories of those who survived.

“I expected to come flying over the landing zone any minute, and this truck drove into the dike off the road,” Bob Burnham told the Observer. “And he did that because the plane was so low, he didn’t want to hit the plane. His face was pressed up looking right at me.”

“It was just like you see in a movie,” Scott Johnson told the newspaper. “Like everything is shaking, the lights flashing on and off and then this fireball comes down through the fuselage.”

That crash has been largely forgotten until now. It’s been overshadowed in the last 20-plus years by maybe the nation’s biggest tragedy on the same date in 2001.

>> In the video at the top of the page, legendary columnist Scott Fowler from the Charlotte Observer talks about what went into reporting the story.

The first two parts of Fowler’s reporting are already online. There are three more to come between now and Wednesday. The Observer will also have special reports in its print edition for the next two Sundays.

(WATCH BELOW: 30 years have passed since 37 people died in plane crash in Charlotte)

30 years have passed since 37 people died in plane crash in Charlotte

©2024 Cox Media Group