1969 Newton Cessna 172 crash

1969 Newton Cessna 172 crash
A Cessna 172 similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date 31 August 1969 (1969-08-31) at 20:05
Site Newton, Iowa
Aircraft
Aircraft type Cessna 172
Registration N3149X
Flight origin Midway Airport
Destination Des Moines, Iowa
Passengers 2
Crew 1
Fatalities 3
Survivors 0

On August 31, 1969, a Cessna 172 crashed in Newton, Iowa, killing world champion boxer Rocky Marciano and two others.[1]

The flight

On Sunday, 31 August 1969 at 8:05 pm (2005 hrs) CDT, the Cessna 172 with registration number N3149X crashed in a pasture near Newton, Iowa,[1][2] approximately thirty miles (50 km) east of Des Moines.

It had departed from Chicago Midway Airport at 6 pm (1800 hrs) and was en route to Des Moines, where Marciano was to celebrate his 46th birthday at a party the next day.[2][3][4] This was to be a surprise party for him; he was to give a speech in support of his friend, Louis Fratto's son.[3] Marciano intended to later fly to Florida to celebrate his birthday at home with his family.[3]

Accident

A storm system was building in the Des Moines region at the time of the accident. The airplane's pilot was 37-year-old Glenn Belz, who was not experienced with night flying or flying during bad weather. Belz decided to head to Newton instead of continuing to Des Moines as planned, which would have risked him losing his pilot's license.[3] The airplane was also short of fuel at the time of the crash.[3]

Witness Coleen Swarts observed the airplane reverse its course and then heard a loud sound as it crashed.[5]

Accident area

Iowa had two other air accidents involving celebrities during the 1950s and 1960s: the 3 February 1959 crash near Clear Lake that took the lives of rock and roll stars Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper (plus their pilot),[6] and an incident involving the Minneapolis Lakers (NBA basketball team) on 18 January 1960, when their DC-3 aircraft crash-landed in a cornfield near Carroll, with no injuries.[7][8][9][10][11]

References

  1. 1 2 "Unbeaten Rocky Marciano loses life in plane crash". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. September 1, 1969. p. 19.
  2. 1 2 "Newton, IA Rocky Marciano Killed In Plane Crash, Aug 1969". gendisasters.com. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rocky Marciano". check-six.com. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Harro Ranter. "ASN Aircraft accident 31-AUG-1969 Cessna 172H N3149X". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Rocky Marciano is Killed in a Plane Crash". World History Project. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Remembering February 3, 1959: 'The Day The Music Died'". Geeks of Doom. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "Plane in storm lands on farm". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. January 19, 1960. p. 13.
  8. ↑ Bonsignore, Vincent (June 4, 2001). "Lakers almost came to tragic end in 1960". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (Los Angeles Daily News). p. C3.
  9. ↑ "Lakers glad to be home after ordeal". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. January 19, 1960. p. 24.
  10. ↑ Crowe, Jerry (April 11, 2010). "In 1960, the Lakers had their worst trip ever". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  11. ↑ "ESPN.com: NBA - The Lakers' plane crash that wasn't". go.com. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
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