‘9/11/74: The Untold Story of Charlotte’s Deadliest Plane Crash’ documentary to premiere

On Sept. 11, 1974, 82 people were traveling on a DC-9 airplane headed to Charlotte when it crashed more than three miles shy of the runway, plowed through a cornfield and a patch of woods and exploded into an inferno.

The story behind the worst plane crash in Charlotte’s history is as outrageous as it is horrific: Incredibly, the pilots didn’t know Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 was doomed until about one second before it hit the ground.

But it’s also a story that has been largely forgotten in the 50 years since the crash. There is no memorial honoring the day’s heroes, the flight’s 10 survivors or its 72 victims — which included the father and two brothers of late-night comedian Stephen Colbert. Even those who live in nearly the exact spot where the plane carved a fiery, 1,000-foot path through southwest Charlotte are largely unfamiliar with the day’s tragic events.

Through dozens of new interviews with Flight 212 survivors, victims’ families and first responders, as well as a review of investigators’ reports, the crash site, court records, press coverage and thousands of other documents — many of them previously unreported — Charlotte Observer reporters Scott Fowler and Théoden Janes and visual journalist Jeff Siner have recreated the disaster and its aftermath in unprecedented detail. Their reporting in this year-long project explores the effect of the past 50 years on the 10 survivors as well as the families that lost a loved one on Flight 212.

On September 18 at The Independent Picture House, The Observer will premiere a documentary about the plane crash and the stories of its survivors followed by panel discussions between Scott Fowler and Théoden Janes, and survivors of the crash, family members of survivors and those who witnessed that day in local history.

Tickets are free, but RSVPs are required. You can reserve them here.