Or. July 19, 1967, at 1201:18 EDT Piedmont Airlines Flight 22, a Boeing 727, ~68650, and a Cessna 310, N3121SJ owned by Lanseair, Inc. were involved in a midair collision at an altitude of 6,132 feet in the vicinity of Hendersonville, Korth Carolina, approximately 8 miles south-east of the Asheville Municipal Airport. All occupants of the Boeing 727, five crewmembers and 74 passengers, and the three occupants of the Cessna received fatal injuries. The two aircraft were destroyed, by collision forces, ground impact and ensuing fire.
Both aircraft were operating on Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plans and were in radio contact with Asheville Tower, the facility which was providing air traffic control service when the collision occurred. Piedmont Flight 22 had departed from Runway 16 at the Asheville Airport and was cleared to proceed via the Asheville VOR en route to Roanoke, Virginia. The Cessna, inbound to the Asheville Airport, had been cleared from over the VOR to the Asheville radio beacon and had reported passing the VOR at 1158:20. The Asheville radio beacon is located. 17.4 miles northwest of the VOR on the 298" radial. The collision occurred ai a position approximately 9 miles southwest of the VOR on approxinately the 243O radial.
We determined that the probable cause of this accident was the deviation of the Cessna from its IFR clearance resulting in a flightpath into airspace allocated, to the Piedmont Boeing 727. The reason for such deviation cannot be specifically or positively identified. The minimum control procedures utilized by the FAA in the handling of the Cessna were a contributing factor.
