Thursday marks 50th anniversary of deadly plane crash near Midway
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thursday marks the 50th anniversary of an aviation disaster in Chicago.
On Dec. 8, 1972, a United Airlines 737 went down in a neighborhood near Midway International Airport.
Flight 553 was traveling from Washington, D.C. to Omaha with a scheduled stop in Chicago. The plan was on approach at the time.
The aircraft struck trees and rooftops along West 71st Street before crashing into a house, killing 43 people on board the plane and two people in the home.
Among the victims was Michele Clark, 29. She was a pioneer in the television industry, getting her start a CBS 2.
Clark was killed in the plane crash about five months after being named correspondent for the network.
Her legacy lives on at Michele Clark Magnet High School on Chicago's West Side.
U.S. Rep. George W. Collins (D-Illinois), and Dorothy Hunt – wife of Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt – were also killed in the plane crash. Collins is memorialized with Collins Academy High School in Douglass Park.