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Piedmont Airlines Flight 230 was a scheduled commercial flight from Louisville, Kentucky to Roanoke, Virginia that crashed near Charleston, West Virginia on the morning of August 10, 1968. While on approach to West Virginia International Yeager Airport (formerly Kanawha County Airport), the plane crashed into a hillside shrouded in fog 250 feet short of the runway, killing 33 of the 35 occupants on board.

Aircraft
The aircraft involved in the crash was a Fairchild Hiller FH-227B, registered as N712U. Its date of manufacture was August 2, 1967, and it entered service with Piedmont Airlines on November 3, 1967. At the time of the accident, it was one year old and it had accumulated 2,197 flight hours. The aircraft was equipped with two Rolls-Royce RDA7-MK-532-7 engines. All records indicate that the plane had been maintained in accordance to FAA procedures. No discrepancies were reported prior to departure from Louisville.

Flight crew
Captain Gene A. Sugg (age 40) had been employed by Piedmont since August 1, 1955, and had been upgraded to captain on the Fairchild Hiller FH-227 in May 1965. He held type ratings for the Martin 2-0-2, Martin 4-0-4, Fairchild F-27/Fairchild Hiller FH-227, and NAMC YS-11. He had 6,884 flight hours, 2,089 of which were on F-27/227 aircraft. He had flown into West Virginia International Yeager Airport 35 times in the previous six-month period.

First officer John F. Messick (age 34) had been employed by Piedmont since September 19, 1966. He had 3,722 flight hours, 403 of which were on F-27/227 aircraft.

There was one flight attendant on board.

Accident sequence
The flight departed from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport at 8:05 am on an instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance to Charleston at 9,000 feet. At 8:35 am, the flight contacted the Charleston Tower to request the latest weather, which was given as "sky partially obscured, visibility 1/2 mile fog and smoke, Runway 23 visibility less than 1/8 mile." The flight told the tower, "we'll see you in about 10/15 minutes," to which the tower replied, "Okay, looks by the time you get...down this way possibly the runway visibility will have improved to a half mile."

At 8:41 am, the flight reported leaving 6,000 feet for 5,000 feet. The controller reported that radar contact had been established and instructed the plane to travel a heading of 070º for a vector to the holding pattern at the ILS outer marker. At 8:50 am, the controller notified the flight that the visibility for Runway 23 was now 7/8 mile. At 8:51 am, the controlled told the flight that "you are seven miles northeast of the outer locator, turn right heading two zero zero, cleared for ILS approach." The pilots acknowledged the clearance and were told shortly after by the controller that "our glidepath is out of service," to which the pilots replied "OK, thank you."

At 8:52 am, the flight was cleared to land. At 8:54 am, the pilots requested a wind check and reported passing the outer marker inbound. At 8:55 am, the pilots asked "Have you got the lights turned all the way up?" The controlled replied, "Sure do, a little fog right off the end there and it's wide open after you get by that, it's more than a mile and a half now on the runway." That was the last known radio communication with the flight.

Shortly after that transmission, the controller saw a column of smoke rising near the approach end of the runway and activated the crash siren. He instructed American Airlines Flight 701, a Lockheed L-188 Electra on approach behind Piedmont Airlines Flight 230, to execute a missed-approach procedure.

A witness, who was located approximately 1/2 mile from the approach end of the runway, stated that at the time of the accident, a fog bank was obscuring the hilltop on which the airport was located. He noted that the engines sounded normal and the first indication of the accident was when he heard the sound of the explosion.

The pilot and passenger of a plane awaiting takeoff clearance on a taxiway adjacent to the approach end of Runway 23 stated that the visibility in the fog was "close to zero" and that the airport approach lights were not visible. Their first observation of the flight was when it suddenly appeared out of the fog, about 50 feet above the end of the runway. At this time, the plane was on fire and falling rapidly to the ground.

It was determined that the plane struck a steep hillside 250 feet from the runway at 865 feet of elevation, 33 feet below the elevation of the hill. The aircraft then careened up and over the side of the hill and onto the runway, coming to rest off the right side of Runway 23. The accident occurred at 08:56:53.

Investigation
The crash killed all three crew members and 30 of the 32 passengers on board. Autopsies on the crew revealed no pre-existing diseases that could have affected their performance. The aircraft was destroyed by the ground impact and subsequent fire. All crew members were properly certified and qualified, and the aircraft was properly certified and maintained. The center of gravity of the plane was within prescribed limits.

The first officer of American Airlines Flight 701, the plane on approach behind the accident flight, noted that the weather conditions in the area were mostly visual flight rules (VFR)