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Charlotte Observer
Historic photos from the 9/11/74 plane crash in Charlotte
By From staff reports,
5 days ago
On Sept. 11, 1974, Eastern Flight 212 crashed more than three miles short of its intended runway at Charlotte’s airport. The plane crash remains the worst in Charlotte history and caused 72 deaths. Ten people survived. Photographers from both The Charlotte Observer The Charlotte News rushed to the scene. This is a selection of the photographs they took that day 50 years ago.
An aerial view of the wreckage of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in southwest Charlotte. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library. Firefighters on the scene of the Eastern Airlines Flight 212 crash in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. ELMER HORTON/Charlotte News File Photo Smoke drifts from the broken tail section of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212. Bill McCallister/Charlotte Observer File Photo Local rescue workers make their way to the accident scene to carry away the injured and the deceased in Charlotte in the aftermath of the crash of Flight 212. JOHN DAUGHTRY/Charlotte Observer File Photo Ambulances line up on Highway 49, ready to carry injured crash survivors of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 off to local hospitals. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library. Bystanders gather on Highway 49, near the crash site. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library. First responders on the scene of the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library. The wreckage of Flight 212. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library The wreckage of the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212. Charlotte News File Photo/Charlotte News File Photo First responders on the scene of the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212. JIM WILSON/Charlotte Observer File Photo The scene of the Eastern Airlines Flight 212 crash on Sept. 11, 1974. Bill McCallister/Charlotte Observer File Photo Firefighters continue to spray the smoldering wreckage of Flight 212. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library. Eastern Flight 212 survivors Richard Arnold (left) and Roy Hendrix on Sept. 11, 1974, after the crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 212. CHARLOTTE NEWS FILE PHOTO/CHARLOTTE NEWS FILE PHOTO Wooden stakes were placed amid the wreckage after Flight 212 crashed on Sept. 11, 1974, in Charlotte. Each stake represented where the body of a deceased passenger had been recovered by rescue crews. Of the 82 people on board the Eastern flight, 72 died and 10 survived. Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Smoke drifts from the broken tail section of the Eastern Air Lines plane that crashed in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library. Firefighters on the scene of the Eastern Airlines Flight 212 crash on Sept. 11, 1974. Jim Wilson/Charlotte Observer File Photo First responders on the scene of the crash of Eastern Flight 212 in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. JIM WILSON/Charlotte Observer File Photo First responders on the scene of the crash of Eastern Flight 212 in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. Charlotte Observer File Photo A shroud covers the body of a deceased passenger still strapped in an airplane seat as the tail section of Eastern Flight 212 smolders in the background on Sept. 11, 1974. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library. First responders on the scene of the crash of Eastern Flight 212 in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. JOHN DAUGHTRY/Charlotte Observer File Photo Firefighters on the scene of the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library. Body bags are lined up near the site of the Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crash of Sept. 11, 1974. Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Firefighters on the scene of the crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library. An aerial view of the wreckage of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in southwest Charlotte. DON STURKEY / Charlotte Observer File Photo/Don Sturkey Photographic Materials, North Carolina Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill Library.
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