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Capitol Air

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This article is about the mid-20th century North American airline. For airlines with similar names, see Capital Airlines (disambiguation).
Capitol Air
IATA ICAO Call sign
CL[1](1) CL[1](1) —
Founded11 January 1946 (1946-01-11)
Ceased operations23 November 1984
Operating basesSmyrna, Tennessee
Wilmington, Delaware
Nashville, Tennessee
DestinationsSee Destinations
HeadquartersSmyrna, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
United States
FounderJesse F. Stallings
Notes
(1) IATA, ICAO codes were the same until the 1980s
DC-8s at Paris 1976

Capitol Air was a United States supplemental air carrier (i.e. charter carrier) and, after 1978, a scheduled passenger air carrier based which was operational from 1946 to its bankruptcy filing on November 23, 1984.[2] It was founded as Capitol Airways in 1946, and then renamed Capitol International Airways in 1967.[3] Supplemental air carriers were also known as irregular air carriers or nonscheduled carriers. In 1981, the airline changed its name to Capitol Air and was operating scheduled domestic and international passenger flights that year.[4]

History

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Capitol Airways was founded by Jesse F. Stallings (1909–1979), an airline captain, and Richmond Mclnnis, his associate. The company was incorporated in Tennesee on 11 January 1946.[5] Capitol's Letter of Registration (what such airlines had at the time in lieu of a certificate)[6] was issued 11 August 1947.[7] During the first few years, Capitol Airways operated a flight school and aircraft sales agency at Cumberland Field in Nashville, Tennessee.

Constellation at Mallorca 1967

By the early 1950s Capitol operated a fleet of piston engine transport planes including DC-3s and Lockheed Lodestars. Capitol Airways began to transport priority freight for the U.S. Air Force in 1954. By 1956, Capitol was operating a fleet of more than twenty Curtiss C-46 transport planes, and had become a primary civilian carrier for the military's Logistic Air Support (LOGAIR) program. Capitol then entered the international charter flight market, operating a fleet of Lockheed Constellations. By the late 1950s, Capitol moved all of its flight operations to Wilmington, Delaware at New Castle Airport.[8]

In 1963 Capitol Airways was one of the first charter airlines to operate jet aircraft in the form of a new Douglas DC-8. In 1964, a Capitol-operated DC-8 set a world record in commercial aviation by flying nonstop from Tokyo, Japan to Wilmington, Delaware in 12 hours and 25 minutes. During the 1960s, the airline's civilian and military air cargo operations increased.

Capitol Airways Financial Results, 1952 thru 1960
1952[9] 1953[10] 1954[11] 1955[12] 1956[13] 1957[14] 1958[15] 1959[16] 1960[16]
USD 000:
Operating revenue 972 1,198 2,231 3,764 5,037 6,725 8,233 10,514 12,574
Profit (loss) before tax 19 25 9 118 260 20 (65) (282) 46
% of operating revenue:
Military charter 57.2 88.3 88.9 98.4 98.8 65.4 47.7 51.6
Civilian charter 19.7 10.3 7.7 1.2 0.8 34.2 45.9 44.3
Scheduled 0.0 1.5 3.2 0.4 0.4 0.4 6.4 3.6
Other 0.0 1.5 3.2 0.4 0.4 0.4 6.4 3.6
Operating revenue:
% of industry(1) 1.4 1.7 4.1 4.9 7.5 13.3 12.6 13.7 15.1
Industry(1) rank 22 8 6 6 4 2 3 4 2
(1) All supplemental air carriers

In 1967 Capitol added "International" to its name and was operating six "straight" DC-8 jets and three "stretched" Super DC-8 versions along with their fleet of piston engine propeller aircraft. In 1971 Capitol International Airways moved to Smyrna, Tennessee,[8] at Sewart Air Force Base. Capitol remained strong as a military contract air carrier.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s it operated international and domestic scheduled passenger service in addition to charter flights.[17][18] It was founded by former Army Air Corps pilots, Jesse Stallings, Richmond McGinnis, and Francis Roach, following the end of World 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 a scheduled air carrier following the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. The airline was incorporated in Delaware but headquartered in Smyrna, Tennessee.

DC-8-63CF Zurich 1982. This aircraft would later crash in 1985 as Arrow Air Flight 1285R

Capitol Air maintained a large presence in the eastern United States and Europe.[19][20] Its hubs were John F. Kennedy International Airport Hangar 11 in New 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 also operated many charter flights for the United States military. One major trunk route in the mid-1970s connected Rhein-Main Air Base (Frankfurt), Germany to Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina with a refueling stop at Bradley Air National Guard Base (co-located with Bradley International Airport) in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.

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.

Destinations

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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:[21]

The above referenced timetable also states that all flights were being operated with stretched, Super Douglas DC-8 series 60 and wide body McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jetliners at this time.

Capitol Air's hub for scheduled passenger operations at this time was New York JFK 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.[21] 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) and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PHL) had been added to Capitol Air's scheduled route system.[22]

Fleet

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World Airline Fleets 1979 (copyright 1979) shows Capitol International Airways with:[1]

Capitol also operated the following types during its existence:[23][4]

Incidents and accidents

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The airline suffered several accidents with its Curtiss C-46s between 1958 and 1967, with three resulting in fatalities.[24] Two other notable accidents occurred with the airline's Douglas DC-8s:

  • 28 April 1968: DC-8-31 registration N1802 crashed at Atlantic 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.[25]
  • 27 November 1970: Capitol International Airways Flight C2C3/26, a DC-8-63CF registration N4909C, overran the runway while attempting to take off at Anchorage, Alaska en-route to Yokota 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.[26]
  • 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 at V1, 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 from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Miami was hijacked to Cuba. In all instances, the hijacker was taken into custody uneventfully.[24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Endres, Günter G. (1979). World Airline Fleets 1979. Hounslow (UK): Airline Publications and Sales. pp. 214–215. ISBN 0905117530.
  2. ^ Information about Capitol Airways at the Aviation Safety Network
  3. ^ "Planespotters.net history of Capitol Airways". Archived from the original on 2015-01-01. Retrieved 2014-12-15.
  4. ^ a b "Airlines Remembered" by B.I. Hengi, publisher Midland Publishing
  5. ^ "Search results for Control number 000005191". tnbear.tn.gov. Tennessee Secretary of State. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
  6. ^ "Nonscheduled Lines Renew Protests". Aviation Week. 47 (6): 52. 11 August 1947. ISSN 0005-2175.
  7. ^ "Part I. Statistical Description of the Individual United States Airlines". Supplement to the Handbook of Airline Statistics: Calendar Years 1977 and 1978 (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. November 1979. p. 1. hdl:2027/osu.32435025695669.
  8. ^ a b Aerodacious history of Capitol Airways
  9. ^ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Operating Factors (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1954. p. 58. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081284.
  10. ^ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Operating Factors (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1955. p. 71. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081284.
  11. ^ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1956. p. 52. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081276.
  12. ^ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1957. p. 57. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081276.
  13. ^ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1958. p. 79. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081490.
  14. ^ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1959. p. 76. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081490.
  15. ^ Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1960. p. 79. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081482.
  16. ^ a b Quarterly Report of Air Carrier Financial Statistics (Report). Civil Aeronautics Board. March 1961. p. 85. hdl:2027/mdp.39015026081482.
  17. ^ http://www.timetableimages.com, Capitol Air timetable
  18. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Capitol Air timetable
  19. ^ Capitol Air 1979 timetable, at timetableimages.com
  20. ^ Capitol Airways 1981 timetable and route map, at departedflights.com
  21. ^ a b http://www.departedflights.com, Nov. 5, 1981 Capitol Air system timetable
  22. ^ http://www.departedflights.com, Dec. 1, 1982 Capitol Air route map
  23. ^ http://www.airliners.net, photos of Capitol Air and Capitol International Airways aircraft
  24. ^ a b "Aviation Safety Network > ASN Aviation Safety Database > Operator index > United States of America > Capitol Airways".
  25. ^ "Accident Douglas DC-8-31 N1802, Sunday 28 April 1968". asn.flightsafety.com. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  26. ^ Aircraft Accident Report, Capitol International Airways, Inc. DC-8-63F, N4909C, Anchorage, Alaska, November 27, 1970 (PDF) (Report). National Transportation Safety Board. 29 March 1972. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
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