Headlines in a local paper after the crash in 1949.
The recent fatal airplane crash with the military helicopter at Reagan National Airport was not the first time a fatal crash occurred in this part of the Potomac River, just north of Old Town. A lesser-known crash occurred on Nov. 1, 1949 when a Bolivian pilot named Erick Rios Bridoux flying a P-38 “war surplus” airplane hit an Eastern Airline plane, killing 55 people.
The P-38 and the DC-4 were at the final approach at the airport and the P-38 "failed to comply with the traffic pattern prescribed" for the airport, reported a local newspaper. There were 51 passengers on the Eastern Airlines plane and four crew members.
According to an old newspaper article dated Jan. 6, 1950, the Bolivian pilot was charged with seven counts in the fatal crash for violating Civil Aeronautics Administration, who said he was flying in a careless and reckless manner. The CAA asked that his pilot's license be revoked. On Oct. 24, the same pilot flew the P-38 war surplus plane to Beacon Field in Mount Vernon and back to National Airport without a valid permit, getting cited for that violation too.
The CAA claimed the plane was not in airworthy condition at the time. Bridoux denied all responsibility for the crash.
Eastern sued him for $500.000, the article stated.
After World War II ended in August 1945, the United States had thousands of extra combat airplanes. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation had 500 buyers for the planes but they didn't sell enough, so at one point they tried to melt them into aluminum ingots for other uses. Many were parked in the Arizona desert near a place called Kingman, Arizona, according to General Aviation News.
Fast forward to January 13, 1982 and 78 people lost their lives in another crash into the Potomac River. This time it was Air Florida flight 90, a Boeing 737 that took off on an icy day and hit the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River. Four motorists on the bridge were killed as well. The ice and snow build up on the wings were a factor.
A surplus WWII plane being restored. There were thousands of surplus airplanes after the war like the P-38 that crashed at National Airport.