National Airlines Flight 470

National Airlines Flight 470 was a regularly scheduled flight between Tampa and New Orleans that crashed on February 14, 1953 after encountering severe turbulence. The crash marked the deadliest accident in the history of National Airlines, killing 46 (5 crew and 41 passengers), among them the widow of the cartoonist Billy DeBeck: Mary Bergman.

National Airlines Flight 470

National DC-6 similar to the one involved
Accident
Date	February 14, 1953 (1953-02-14)
Summary	Turbulence, in-flight breakup
Site	Gulf of Mexico, off Fort Morgan, Alabama 30°10′25″N 87°57′10″W
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-6
Operator	National Airlines
Registration	N90893
Flight origin	Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida
Stopover	Tampa International Airport, Tampa, Florida
Destination	Moisant Field, New Orleans, Louisiana
Occupants	46
Passengers	41
Crew	5
Fatalities	46
Survivors	0

Events

Crash site of the flight in the Gulf of Mexico

The Douglas DC-6, registered N90893, crashed into the Gulf of Mexico 20 miles (32 km) off Mobile Point en route to New Orleans.^[1] The USCGC Blackthorn assisted in search and recovery operations.^[2][3][4][5] National Airlines did not maintain its own meteorology department, as was standard among airlines at the time, and its pilots were not informed of the strength of the storm into which they were flying.^[6]