A Cessna 172 similar to the accident aircraft
| |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | August 31, 1969 (1969-08-31) at 8:05 pm |
| Summary | VFR flight into adverse weather. |
| Site | Jasper County, Iowa, United States 41°42′25″N 93°04′34″W / 41.707°N 93.076°W / 41.707; -93.076 |
| 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 former world heavyweight champion boxer Rocky Marciano and two others.[1]
On Sunday, August 31, 1969 at 8:05 pm 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]
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, to avoid the bad weather. While trying to land at Newton the aircraft entered low cloud, attempted an overshoot and the pilot lost control, impacting a lone oak tree in a corn field.[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]
|
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1969 (1969)
| |
|---|---|
|
Jan 6 Jan 13 Scandinavian Airlines Flight 933 Jan 18 Feb 18 Feb 18 Hawthorne Nevada Airlines Flight 708 Feb 24 Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 104 Mar 5 Mar 16 Mar 20 United Arab Airlines Aswan crash Mar 25 Apr 2 LOT Polish Airlines Flight 165 Apr 15 Apr 28 May 23 Jun 4 Mexicana de Aviación Flight 704 Jun 23 Jul 12 Royal Nepal Airlines DC-3 crash Jul 26 Aug 3 Aug 29 Aug 31 Sep 9 Sep 12 Philippine Air Lines Flight 158 Sep 21 Mexicana de Aviación Flight 801 Sep 26 Nov 19 Nov 20 Dec 3 Dec 8 Dec 11 Korean Air Lines YS-11 hijacking | |
|
Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1960s
| |
|---|---|
| 1960 |
|
| 1961 |
|
| 1962 |
|
| 1963 |
|
| 1964 |
|
| 1965 |
|
| 1966 |
|
| 1967 |
|
| 1968 |
|
| 1969 |
|
This list is incomplete. | |
