Historical eventJune 171948

United Air Lines Flight 624

United Air Lines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.

Everything on June 17Original source

In context

When
Thursday, June 17 194878 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
20th century · 1940s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

At a glance

Dates: From 1948.

What came beforeAI-assisted

The Douglas DC-6 was one of the most advanced commercial aircraft of the 1940s, featuring pressurized cabins and powerful engines. United Air Lines operated a fleet of DC-6s on transcontinental and regional routes across the United States.

Catalyst / how it startedAI-assisted

Flight 624 departed LaGuardia Airport in New York on June 17, 1948, bound for Chicago. The aircraft encountered a structural failure in flight near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, approximately 90 minutes after takeoff.

Who was involvedAI-assisted

The flight carried 36 passengers and 7 crew members, all of whom perished in the crash. Captain Clarence Fay was commanding the aircraft at the time of the accident.

TimelineAI-assisted

Flight 624 departed LaGuardia Airport in the morning of June 17, 1948. The DC-6 crashed near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people aboard.

What happened

United Air Lines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board.

June 17 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1948United Air Lines Flight 624
  2. 1987Dusky seaside sparrow
  3. 1989Interflug Flight 102
  4. 1991Apartheid
  5. 1992George H. W. Bush
  6. 1994O. J. Simpson
  7. 2009Czech Pirate Party
  8. 2015Charleston church shooting
  9. 2015White supremacy
  10. 2017June 2017 Portugal wildfires
  11. 2021Juneteenth

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  • July 8United States Air ForceThe United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called the Women's Air Force (WAF).
  • December 14Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr.American physicists Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann were awarded a patent for their cathode-ray tube amusement device, the fir…
  • December 22Sjafruddin PrawiranegaraChaired by Sjafruddin Prawiranegara, the Emergency Government of the Republic of Indonesia was established to counter Dutch attempts to r…
  • December 9United Nations General AssemblyThe United Nations General Assembly adopted the Genocide Convention, which defines genocide in legal terms and obligates its signatories…
  • July 17Olympia, GreeceIn Olympia, Greece, the Summer Olympics torch relay, nicknamed the "relay of peace", began.
  • October 291948 Arab–Israeli WarArab–Israeli War: The Israel Defense Forces massacred at least 52 villagers while capturing the Palestinian Arab village of Safsaf.

Everything we record for 1948 →

Sources

Cite this page

“United Air Lines Flight 624”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/united-air-lines-flight-624-1948-june-17, accessed October 25, 2026.

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Questions about this entry

When did United Air Lines Flight 624 happen?

June 17 1948 — 78 years ago, on a Thursday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints. Panels marked AI-assisted were filled where the sources left a heading empty.

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