Transcontinental and Western Airways Flight 1 (TWA 1), a Douglas DC-2, crashed into Cheat Mountain, near Uniontown, Pennsylvania, approximately 10:20 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on April 7, 1936, killing 12 of the 14 passengers and crew aboard.

Thick fog hindered him, and his descent continued until Flight 1 hit ice-covered trees atop Cheat Mountain, about 40 miles (64 km) south of Pittsburgh on the West Virginia line and near Uniontown, Pennsylvania.

When the plane crashed it was aiming in a northern flight direction indicating that the pilot finally realized he had tracked south of his flightplan and may have been trying to correct it.

Flight attendant Nellie Granger, though injured in the crash, got help for the surviving passengers by following nearby telephone wires to a home, where she called for help.

[5] On April 7, TWA Flight 1 left Newark at 7:54 a.m. and made its regularly scheduled stop in Camden, outside Philadelphia, at 8:27 a.m. and picked up additional passengers.

[6] In Camden, pilot Otto Ferguson and co-pilot Harry C. Lewis received the weather report for their trip, which indicated heavy clouds and icing conditions in western Pennsylvania below 15,000 feet.

[6] Ferguson's plan was to fly west from Camden, using compass readings and radio beacons as guidance, then make an approach into Allegheny County Airport from the northeast.

[8] At 10:10 a.m., witnesses near Connellsville, Pennsylvania, which is about 30 miles (48 km) south of Pittsburgh, reported hearing and seeing the plane fly overhead through gaps in the fog.

[9] Investigators later concluded that during these final moments before the crash, Ferguson realized he was lost and began following a small creek to the northwest.

Despite the thick fog, clouds and freezing rain that dominated the scene, she noticed a set of telephone wires in a nearby field.

Wearing only a light uniform, she followed the wires 4 miles (6.4 km) to a farmhouse, where she telephoned the TWA office in Pittsburgh to notify them of the crash.

[6] Help was immediately dispatched to the area, and Granger retraced her steps to the crash site, where she greeted rescuers before being escorted to an ambulance and a hospital in Uniontown.

[12] Major R. W. Schroeder of the Department of Commerce said, "In my opinion the cause of this catastrophe will never be known,"[12] but investigators gradually uncovered the truth through interviews with people who had seen the plane's course diverge from schedule.

In the end, the Bureau of Air Commerce concluded pilot Ferguson was at fault and demonstrated "poor judgment" by descending to a dangerous altitude in an attempt to navigate visually.

Following the crash, the Bureau itself took over the centers and began to expand the network, leading to the development of the modern air traffic control system.

[21] Country singer and musician "Happy Go-Lucky" Joe Barker created a song memorializing the disaster entitled "The Crash of The Sun Racer.