On July 23, 1973, while landing at St. Louis International Airport, it crashed, killing 38 of the 44 persons aboard.

[1] On July 23, 1973, Ozark Air Lines Flight 809 was operated by one of the company's Fairchild-Hiller FH-227s, registration N4215.

The aircraft crashed 2 miles (3.2 km) short of the runway, in a wooded ravine next to a residential area in Normandy, Missouri, near the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

There were reports of a tornado near Ladue, Missouri near the time of the accident but the Weather Service did not confirm it.

While the first officer could not remember anything about the incident, the captain did report seeing hail hitting the airplane, pulling the control stick, and seeing fire after impact.

[1] The aircraft was broken in several pieces after impact; the cockpit area was clear of the main wreckage.

The captain's decision was influenced by the lack of a timely warning about the storm by the weather service and the improper assessment of conditions by the dispatcher.