6.07.20 – We Remember Allegheny Airlines Flight 485

Sunday, June 7, 2020

We Remember Allegheny Airlines Flight 485

On June 7, 1971, Allegheny Airlines Flight 485 departed at 9:33 a.m. from Groton-New London Airport in Connecticut en route to Tweed Airport in New Haven, Connecticut. Thirty-one souls were on board the aircraft: 2 Pilots, 1 Flight Attendant, 26 adult passengers, and two infants.

At 9:48 a.m., Flight 485 was cleared to land at Tweed Airport. As the aircraft was making its final approach, it was flying very low over Long Island Sound’s water. Intermittent fog and low clouds were present that day. Moments before reaching land, the aircraft had dropped to less than 30 feet above the water before it struck three beach houses and hit the ground.

Only three people survived the crash. The First Officer, James Walker, was critically injured when he was ejected from the cockpit as the plane broke apart, but he did survive. Two passengers were able to escape from the burning cabin through an emergency exit.

Flight Attendant Judith Manning, Captain David Eastridge, and 26 passengers lost their lives that day. Today, please take a moment and remember all 28 souls who lost their lives forty-nine years ago on Allegheny Airlines Flight 485.