Northeast Airlines Flight 258

{{short description|1958 aviation accident}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}

{{Infobox Airliner accident

|occurrence_type=Accident

|name=Northeast Airlines Flight 258

|date={{start date|1958|08|15}}

|type=Pilot error

|image=Convair 300, Bahama Air Ferries AN0209871.jpg

|caption=A Convair CV-240 similar to the accident aircraft

|site=Near Nantucket Memorial Airport, Massachusetts

|coordinates={{Coord|41.2632|-70.0544|display=inline,title}}

|origin=La Guardia Airport, New York City

|destination=Nantucket Memorial Airport

|passengers=31

|crew=3

|injuries=9

|fatalities=25

|survivors=9

|aircraft_type=Convair CV-240

|operator=Northeast Airlines

|tail_number=N90670

}}

Northeast Airlines Flight 258 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from New York's La Guardia Airport that crashed while trying to land at Nantucket Memorial Airport, Massachusetts, at 11:34 on the night of August 15, 1958. All three crew-members and 20 of the 31 passengers were killed, among them Gordon Dean, former chairman of the United States Atomic Energy Commission.{{cite news |last1=Walsh |first1=Robert |title=Air Safety Probe Demanded for N.E.: Nantucket Crash Toll Rises to 23; 11 Survive |work=The Boston Daily Globe |date=August 17, 1958}}"[https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/17/archives/gordon-dean-52-was-truman-aide-victim-in-nantucket-crash-headed-aec.html Gordon Dean, 52, Was Truman Aide; Victim in Nantucket Crash Headed A.E.C. for 3 Years]" New York Times Aug 17, 1958 [https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E15FD3D59127A93C5A81783D85F4C8585F9 link]

The accident aircraft, a Convair 240 operated by Northeast Airlines, commenced a non-precision VOR approach to the uncontrolled airport despite the fact that visibility, at {{convert|1/8|mi|km|spell=in|adj=pre|of a}} in fog, was below the legal minimum required for such an approach. The aircraft flew into the ground {{convert|1/3|mi|km|spell=in|adj=pre|of a}} short of the Runway 24 threshold and some {{convert|600|ft|m}} to the right of the extended center-line.{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19580815-1|title=ASN Aircraft accident Convair CV-240-2 N90670 Nantucket Memorial Airport, MA (ACK)|website=aviation-safety.net|accessdate=29 August 2017}} A post-crash fire ensued; most survivors as well as many of the dead were ejected from the wreckage.Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, August 16, 1958[https://www.nytimes.com/1958/08/16/archives/19-on-airliner-killed-in-crash-at-nantucket-trip-began-here-gordon.html "19 on airliner killed in crash at Nantucket"]; New York Times, August 19, 1958

A Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) investigation found that the captain of the aircraft failed to acknowledge transmissions warning him of the deteriorating weather conditions in the minutes before the crash. The CAB also criticised Northeast's training and operational procedures, noting deficiencies in aircrew proficiency, recordkeeping and monitoring of company radio frequencies.Lewiston (ME) Daily News, March 27, 1959