# Capitol Air

Capitol Air was a United States supplemental air carrier and, after 1978, a scheduled passenger air carrier based which was operational from 1946 to its bankruptcy filing on November 23, 1984. 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 as Capitol Airways in 1946, and renamed Capitol International Airways in 1967. In 1981, the airline changed its name to Capitol Air and was operating scheduled domestic and international passenger flights that year.

## History

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. Capitol's Letter of Registration (what such airlines had at the time in lieu of a certificate) was issued 11 August 1947. During the first few years, Capitol Airways operated a flight school and aircraft sales agency at Cumberland Field in Nashville, Tennessee.
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. In February 1959, Capitol made New Castle Airport at Wilmington, Delaware its main operational base.
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 | 1953 | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 |
| 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 |
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, at the former 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. 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.
Capitol Air maintained a large presence in the eastern United States and Europe. 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

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:
* Boston, Massachusetts (BOS)
* Brussels, Belgium (BRU)
* Chicago, Illinois - O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
* Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
* Los Angeles, California (LAX)
* Miami, Florida (MIA)
* Newark, New Jersey - Newark Airport (EWR)
* New York City, New York - John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
* Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic (POP)
* San Francisco, California (SFO)
* San Juan, Puerto Rico (SJU)
* Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH)
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. 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.

## Fleet

1953:
* 3 Douglas DC-3
* 2 Curtiss C-46
August 1971:
* 4 Douglas DC-8-63CF
* 3 Douglas DC-8-55F
* 1 Douglas DC-8-32
World Airline Fleets 1979 (copyright 1979) shows Capitol International Airways with:
* 2 Douglas DC-8-31
* 3 Douglas DC-8-33
* 5 Douglas DC-8-61
* 2 Douglas DC-8-63CF
Capitol also operated the following types during its existence:
* Airbus A300B4
* Curtiss C-46 Commando
* Douglas DC-3
* Douglas DC-4
* Douglas DC-8-54CF
* Lockheed Constellation - including L-749A Constellation, L-1049E, L-1049G & L-1049H Super Constellation models
* Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar
* McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10

## Incidents and accidents

* 2 April 1955 C-46A registration N51424 disappeared flying from Mobile to Warner 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.
* 16 November 1958 C-46F registration N1301N enroute Denver to Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah suffered a right engine failure in IFR conditions. The aircraft crashed and burned at an elevation of 8,700 ft near Fort Collins, Colorado, killing the two pilots on board. See External links for a picture of this aircraft.
* 4 October 1960 C-46F registration N4719N was on night-time final approach to McClellan Air Force Base on a flight from Travis 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.
* 15 October 1960 C-46F registration N1300N in-bound from Rapid City, South Dakota to Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah was making a simulated ILS 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.
* 22 January 1961 C-46F registration N1308V suffered an uncontrollable engine fire near Katy, Texas on an Air Force Logair flight from Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas to Mobile, 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. See External links for a picture of this aircraft.
* 13 September 1967 C-46F registration N1309V suffered an engine flameout after takeoff from Kingston, Jamaica en route to Fort Lauderdale, resulting in a ditching. Four people on board the aircraft were unharmed, but the aircraft was lost.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.