flight safety detectives episode 273 -What Happened to Singer Jim Croce

Jim Croce died in a plane crash more than 50 years ago. Determining what caused the 1973 crash is challenging. This episode also covers an event where no one was flying a Lufthansa plane.

The only surviving document from the plane crash that killed Jim Croce is less than a page long, leaving many questions unanswered. The investigation was likely carried out by an investigator who was outside of NTSB headquarters. At that time, the records for most accident investigations were not sent to headquarters.

Jim Croce was traveling late at night from Louisiana to Texas. For reasons that are not explained, the aircraft hit a tree off the end of the runway. It was destroyed in the subsequent fire. While the report mentions the weather conditions and the pilot’s preexisting heart condition, it does not answer many questions, such as whether the plane was overloaded or even the position of the tree relative to the runway.

In a 2024 incident involving Lufthansa, the captain stepped out of the cockpit and the first officer lost consciousness. For 10 minutes, no one was flying the plane!

The event did not result in an accident, although it was a close call. Fortunately, the first officer recovered enough to open the cockpit door, and the flight continued without incident.

John Goglia and Todd Curtis agree that always having a second person in the cockpit is a good practice. The regulations in Europe, where Lufthansa is based, do not require a second person.
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Although these two events are very different, like many accidents and incidents, each provides learning opportunities. Aviation is a learning adventure!

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