Capitol Air was aUnited Statessupplemental air carrier and, after 1978, a scheduled passenger air carrier based which was operational from 1946 to its bankruptcy filing on November 23, 1984.[2] From 1964, supplemental air carriers were simply charter carriers. Until 1964, however, supplemental air carriers were a scheduled/charter hybrid. Supplemental air carriers were also known as irregular air carriers or nonscheduled carriers. The airline was founded asCapitol Airways in 1946, and renamedCapitol International Airways in 1967. In 1982, the airline changed its name toCapitol Air and was operating scheduled domestic and international passenger flights that year.
Capitol Airways was founded by Jesse F. Stallings (1909–1979), an airline captain, and Richmond Mclnnis, his associate. The company was incorporated in Tennessee on 11 January 1946.[3] Capitol's Letter of Registration (what such airlines had at the time in lieu of a certificate)[4] was issued 11 August 1947.[5] During the first few years, Capitol Airways operated a flight school and aircraft sales agency atCumberland Field inNashville, Tennessee.
By the early 1950s Capitol operated a fleet of piston engine transport planes includingDC-3s andLockheed Lodestars. Capitol Airways began to transport priority freight for theU.S. Air Force in 1954. By 1956, Capitol was operating a fleet of more than twentyCurtiss C-46 transport planes, and had become a primary civilian carrier for theAir ForceLogair program. Capitol then entered the international charter flight market, operating a fleet ofLockheed Constellations. In February 1959, Capitol madeNew Castle Airport atWilmington, Delaware its main operational base.[6]
In October 1963 Capitol Airways was the third supplemental air carrier (afterTrans International Airlines andWorld Airways) to transition to jets with a convertible (passenger/freight)Douglas DC-8-54F.[7][8][9] In February 1964, a Capitol set a commercial aviation world record by flying a DC-8 nonstop fromTokyo, Japan to Wilmington, Delaware in 12 hours and 25 minutes.[10]
On 17 March 1967, the airline changed its name to Capitol International Airways.[19][20] In 1971 Capitol International Airways moved toSmyrna, Tennessee,[21] at the formerSewart Air Force Base. Capitol remained strong as a military contract air carrier.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s Capitol operated international and domestic scheduled passenger service in addition to charter flights.[22][23] It was founded by formerArmy Air Corps pilots, Jesse Stallings, Richmond McGinnis, and Francis Roach, following the end ofWorld War II. Executive Vice President was Frank J. Sparacino. European Director of Operations was Chuck Carr, the Director France Michel Lelièvre and the LBG Airport Manager, P. Landelle. Gatwick Ops was the European Office. In the late 1970s, Capitol Air became ascheduled air carrier following the passage of theAirline Deregulation Act of 1978. The airline was incorporated inDelaware but headquartered inSmyrna, Tennessee.
On 6 January 1982, Capitol again changed names, this time to Capitol Air.[24]
Capitol Air maintained a large presence in the eastern United States andEurope.[25][26] Its hubs wereJohn F. Kennedy International Airport Hangar 11 inNew York City,Brussels, Belgium and San Juan, Puerto Rico. From New York/JFK Capitol Air served Los Angeles (LAX), Chicago O'Hare (ORD), Brussels (BRU), Frankfurt (FRA), Paris, France (LBG) Aguadilla (BQN), San Juan (SJU) and Puerto Plata (POP). From San Juan its served Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston and Santo Domingo. Even though Capitol commenced scheduled passenger operations, charters were still a big part of its operations. Many of the charters operated into San Juan, Puerto Rico, were for Canadian tour operators that required passenger air service in conjunction with cruises that departed San Juan every Saturday.
Capitol Air declared bankruptcy in the mid-1980s after George Batchelor, now Capitol's owner, had largely dismantled the airline in favor of his newly acquired venture,Arrow Air, another formerly all-charter air carrier that eventually initiated scheduled passenger airline operations.
According to the Capitol Air system timetable dated November 5, 1981, the airline was operating scheduled passenger service to the following domestic and international destinations:[27]
The above referenced timetable also states that all flights were being operated with stretched, SuperDouglas DC-8 series 60 and wide bodyMcDonnell Douglas DC-10 jetliners at this time.
Capitol Air's hub for scheduled passenger operations at this time was New YorkJFK Airport with nonstop transatlantic flights being operated from JFK to Brussels, Frankfurt and Zurich in Europe as well as transcontinental nonstops to Los Angeles and San Francisco in addition to nonstops to Chicago, Puerto Plata and San Juan.[27] The airline was also operating nonstop flights from Chicago to Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco, and from San Juan nonstop to Boston, Miami and Newark at this same time. By 1982,Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (BQN) andPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania (PHL) had been added to Capitol Air's scheduled route system.[28]
2 April 1955 –C-46A registration N51424 flying forLogair disappeared flying fromMobile toWarner Robins Air Force Base with wreckage later washing up on beaches and other parts found by diving. The cause was never determined, but weather was poor at the time, including thunderstorms and turbulence. The two crew were presumed dead.[35][36][37][nb 1]
4 October 1960 –C-46F registration N4719N was on night-time final approach toMcClellan Air Force Base on a flight fromTravis Air Force Base, when the crew felt an impact and saw a flash. The Capitol aircraft landed safely and found a dent in a flap. The C-46 had impacted a Cessna, which crashed and exploded, killing the two on board. The Cessna had been engaged in an unauthorized night-time landing.[40][41]
15 October 1960 –C-46F registration N1300N in-bound fromRapid City, South Dakota toHill Air Force Base inOgden, Utah was making a simulatedILS approach when the right wing separated due to metal fatigue of certain bolts, leading to destruction of the aircraft after crashing at 6,500 ft elevation, and the death of the two crew on board.[40][42]
22 January 1961 –C-46F registration N1308V suffered an uncontrollable engine fire nearKaty, Texas on an Air ForceLogair flight fromKelly Air Force Base inSan Antonio, Texas toMobile, Alabama. The fire was traced to fatigue failure of bolts in an engine. There was evidence fire suppression was attempted unsuccessfully, but the fire burned the engine and wing off the aircraft, destroying the aircraft and killing the two crew.[43][44][45] SeeExternal links for a picture of this aircraft.
13 September 1967 –C-46F registration N1309V suffered an engine flameout after takeoff fromKingston, Jamaica en route to Fort Lauderdale, resulting in a ditching. Four people on board the aircraft were unharmed, but the aircraft was lost.[46][47]
28 April 1968 –DC-8-31 registration N1802 crashed atAtlantic City,New Jersey on a training flight. The crew attempted a two-engine approach and touch-and-go and lost control as they applied power. All four crew members survived.[48]
27 November 1970 –Capitol International Airways Flight C2C3/26, aDC-8-63CF registration N4909C, overran the runway while attempting to take off atAnchorage,Alaska en route toYokota Air Base,Japan. For reasons that could not be determined, all eight main landing gear wheels remained locked during takeoff, preventing reaching sufficient take off speed. 47 of 229 passengers and crew were killed.[49]
2 October 1977 –Shannon Airport,Ireland.DC-8-61 N911CL en-route Rome-Windsor Locks aborted takeoff after a fire. A main landing gear tyre shredded on takeoff, rupturing fuel tanks, causing a fire under the left wing. The tower spotted the fire as did the crew of a sister aircraft that had just arrived. Takeoff was abandoned atV1, the DC-8 stopped just short of the end of the runway. 50 passengers were injured but there were no fatalities. Although significantly damaged, the aircraft was returned to service. Had the aircraft become airborne, the outcome likely would have been far worse.
Additionally, on three occasions between May and August 1983, the airline's flight 236 fromSan Juan,Puerto Rico toMiami was hijacked to Cuba. In all instances, the hijacker was taken into custody uneventfully.[50]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toCapitol Air.
1968 promotional film byMcDonnell Douglas for Capitol International Airways:McDonnell Douglas (1968)."Destinations... Unlimited"(video).youtube.com. PeriscopeFilm. Retrieved30 December 2024.
Seven interior and exterior photos of a 1960s Capitol Airways flight:"Capitol Airways flight to California, circa 1960s"(photo).digital.library.nashville.org. Metropolitan Nashville/Davidson County Archives, Nashville Public Library. Retrieved21 September 2024.
Carriers that operated for all/part of 1938–1978 when most were under close economic control of theCAB.Bold indicates survived into deregulated era (1979–today)
.jpg)
