TWA Flight 260
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 A Martin 4-0-4, circa 1955, in Eastern Airlines livery.
|
|
| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 19, 1955 |
| Type | Deviation from prescribed flight path for reasons unknown |
| Site | Sandia Mountains, New Mexico |
| Passengers | 13 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Fatalities | 16 (passengers:13 crew:3) |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Martin 4-0-4 |
| Operator | Trans World Airlines |
| Tail number | N40416 |
| Flight origin | Albuquerque International Airport, NM (ABQ/KABQ) |
| Destination | Santa Fe Municipal Airport, NM (SAF/KSAF) |
TWA Flight 260 crashed into the Sandia Mountains in 1955. The plane was a 40 passenger prop plane, a Martin 4-0-4, and the cause was instrument failure.
On February 19, 1955 at 7:31 am, TWA flight 260 en route from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Santa Fe, New Mexico crashed into the Sandia Mountains shortly after take off killing all 13 passengers and three crew members on board. Due to the complex mountainous terrain a day after several members of the New Mexico Mountain Club, along with other volunteers assisted the New Mexico State Police were assembled to assist in the recovery efforts leading to the formation of the Albuquerque Mountain Rescue Council, a voluntary organization still active today. Wreckage from the craft still remains, and is still visible - on brightly lit days - to riders on the Sandia Tram, a popular tourist attraction active since 1965. Originally the cause was believed to be that the pilots “intentionally flying the plane into the mountain” but, five years later changed the probable cause to “deviation from course for reasons unknown” with speculation that the fluxgate compass may have malfunctioned.
