Eastern Airlines Flight 212 crashed short of Douglas Airport at Charlotte, South Carolina. Seventy-two people died including the pilot, Captain James Reeves, Rear Admiral Charles Ward Cummings, the acting commandant of the now-defunct 6th Naval District, headquartered in Charleston, and his aide, Captain Felix Vecchione. Cummings had been named Commandant of the 6th Naval District in Charleston just six days prior to the accident.
