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| Since the mid-1930's, more than forty airplanes have
come to grief on the mountains surrounding Mena, Arkansas. The Federal
Aviation Administration and the State of Arkansas have worked to increase
the awareness of the potental dangers of flying in this area. The goal
of this section is to highlight the accidents, the majority of which are
weather related, in the hopes of preventing similar crashes.
The Ouachita Mountain range spans from mid-central Arkansas westward into Oklahoma, with peaks seeming to rise out of nowhere. The peaks run east-west, rather than north-south as with other ranges in North America. The confusion from this orientation, coupled with weather that tends to obscure the peaks, lends to the ranges macabre reputation for luring aircraft to their doom. After the Texas International crash in 1973, the Mena airport was renamed the Intermountain Regional Airport, and the VOR (which was always located on Rich Mountain, but named for a nearby town in Oklahoma) was renamed from Page to Rich Mountain. The emphasis to people flying into the area is "Mountain". This section is as much about aviation safety as it is about history, and will be updated as often as possible, as more records are found and chases completed. Contributions to this page are welcome. |
| Date | Type Aircraft | Tail Number | Fatal/ Onboard |
Remarks |
| 5 March 1936 | Beechcraft B17L | NC15486 | 2/2 | Crashed/burned in fog |
| 10 December 1943 | Douglas RA-24A | 42-6706 | 2/2 | Crashed onto Black Fork Mtn in fog |
| 27 September 1973 | Convair 600 (240D) | N94230 | 11/11 | Texas International Flight 655 - CFIT in IMC |
| 13 March 1975 | Bellanca 26 | N4930V | ?/? | ? |
| 15 February 1984 | Cessna 414A | N6815Z | 2/? | Crashed onto Rich Mtn in IMC |
| 20 February 1985 | Piper PA-34-200 | N8658E | 1/1 | Crashed on IFR approach |
| 22 April 1985 | Cessna 310 | N8942Z | 2/? | Continued VFR into IMC |
| 15 November 1987 | Piper PA-28-180 | N9131J | 1/? | Crashed onto Fourche Mtn in IMC |
| 15 March 1993 | Piper PA-23-160 | N4341P | 0/3 | Crashed into terrain 12 mi NW of Mena arpt |
| 9 December 2002 | Beechcraft 1900C | N120YV | 3/3 | Crashed into terrain near Eagleton, AR |
| 15 December 2003 |
Beechcraft H35 |
N7929D |
1/1 |
Crashed into north face of Black Fork Mountain during
VFR Approach to Mena |
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