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Tuesday marks 30 years since Flight 1016

The flight was coming to Charlotte from Columbia, South Carolina, when severe weather caused it to crash.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tuesday marks 30 years since the devastating Flight 1016 crash.

Just before 7 p.m. on July 2, 1994, 37 people were killed when a plane crashed into a neighborhood near Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

The flight was coming to Charlotte from Columbia, South Carolina, when severe weather caused it to crash. In total, 20 passengers and flight crew members survived. 

For the latest breaking news, weather and traffic alerts from WCNC Charlotte, download the WCNC Charlotte mobile app and enable push notifications. 

In 2019, WCNC Charlotte's Nate Morabito spoke to two of the survivors. 

"I don't remember the impact,” Cheryl Robinson said. “I just remember everything was dark and I couldn't see."

Robinson told WCNC Charlotte that's when she realized she didn’t know where her baby was, but she could hear her cry. Her baby Denise ended up being under the seat. 

"I heard this lady,” Robinson said about a flight attendant who had Denise in her arms. “She kept telling, 'She's right here, she's right here, she's right here,’ and she put her in my lap."

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The National Transportation Safety Board couldn't explain how Denise survived. At that time, passengers weren't required to buy seats for toddlers, and Robinson told WCNC Charlotte Denise wasn’t in a safety seat or strapped in that well.

"I asked [the flight attendant] what happened, and she said, 'You're OK,'" Robinson recalled at the time. "She kept telling me 'you're OK,' and I said, 'what happened?' She said ‘the plane crashed; the plane crashed.'"

The tragedy sparked changes that still keep travelers safe to this day, including Doppler weather radar requirements at all U.S. airports. 

WCNC Charlotte wants to hear about your loved one

If your loved one was impacted by this incident, WCNC Charlotte hopes to make this process less painful with our More Than A Number initiative. With your help, we want to share who your loved one was with our viewers in North Carolina and South Carolina. When you're ready, fill out the form below or send us photos, memories and other details about them to desk@wcnc.com.  

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