All 50 passengers and crew on board were killed[2] in what was at the time the second-worst airplane accident in the history of U.S. domestic air travel.

[3] Pennsylvania Central Airlines Flight 410 departed Chicago at 13:52 for Norfolk, Virginia with scheduled stops in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Washington.

Approximately 30 minutes after takeoff from Pittsburgh, the aircraft was informed of air traffic delays and deteriorating weather conditions on the approach to Washington.

[5] Flight 410 “struck a ridge in the Blue Ridge Mountains approximately two miles east of the Shenandoah River on the right hand edge of the northwest leg of the Arcola radio range at an elevation of approximately 1,425 feet.”[5] The Martinsburg Journal reported the next day that "local officials were alerted because the last word from the plane had been its routine report to Washington that it had passed just south of Martinsburg at an altitude of 5,000 feet with Washington only 20 minutes flying time away."

[7] The investigation concluded that the pilot had erred in descending below the minimum altitude for which the flight had received clearance without adequate ground references.