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Passengers originally ticketed on Flight 601 were enplaned on a first-come, first-serve basis on the Electra and then the DC-6B. Seventy-six passengers boarded the Electra, which departed New York International Airport at 2334. The remaining 29 passengers boarded the DC-6B which left the terminal at 2334. The flight plan filed by Captain Southard requested routing as follows: Radar vectoring to Coyle VOR, V-1 airway to Wilmington, North Carolina, control 1150 to West Palm Beach, Florida, and V-3 airway to Miami, Florida, requesting an altitude of 18,000 feet.
Following receipt of taxi clearance, flight 2511 taxied to runway 31 left. Flight 2511 then received the following clearance from Idlewild clearance delivery on 121.6 mcs., "National twenty-five eleven ATC clears you to the Wolf intersection via Idlewild radio beacon, Idlewild VOR one three zero radial, Victor sixteen, cross Wolf at, and maintain three thousand, cross Idlewild radio beacon at two thousand." The clearance was read back by Flight 2511 and acknowledged. The flight then contacted Idlewild tower on 119.1 mcs., and was cleared for takeoff. After takeoff Flight 2511 contacted departure control and was radar vectored to Victor 16 airway and then contacted New York Center on 124.1 mcs., which radar vectored the flight to a position six miles east of Point Pleasant and cleared it to navigate direct to Coyle VCR. During the departure the flight was given successively higher altitudes and reported over Coyle at 16,000 feet. New York Center then cleared the flight to 18,000 feet, which was the requested flight plan altitude.
Flight 2511 proceeded in a routine manner in accordance with its flight plan and clearance, and reported to Washington Center over the Wilmington (North Carolina) VOR at 0227, 18,000 feet, estimating Azalea intersection at 0302 and Gateway intersection as the next reporting point.
During the flight from Idlewild in addition to the communication contacts with FAA centers, Flight 2511 maintained contact with National Airlines company radio stations located at Idlewild, Washington, and Wilmington. It is the practice of the company to have its pilots make their position reports to ARTC.
At 0213 Flight 2511 established contact with the company radio at Wilmington on 128.7 mcs. At this time the flight reported it was over Kinston at 0210, 18,000 feet, and estimated Wilmington at 0230, with Azalea as the next checkpoint. At this time the Wilmington operator informed the flight that the Wilmington altimeter setting was 30.17.
At 0231 Flight 2511 reported to company radio at Wilmington as over Wilmington at 0227, at 18,000 feet, estimating Azalea at 0302, with Gateway as the next checkpoint. The flight reported that at the time of this radio contact they were over the Carolina Beach radio beacon (an "H" facility which is located 16 nautical miles from the Wilmington VOR on a heading of 200 degrees), that the flight had been on instruments to Cofield (VOR), then in and out of clouds, and was now on top for the first time. The company radio operator logged the time of the termination of this message as 0231. This was the last contact with Flight 2511.
At approximately 0700 a telephone call was received by the National Airlines radio operator from a Richard Randolph of Bolivia, North Carolina, advising that there was airplane wreckage in the field near his house 1-1/2 miles northwest of Bolivia. This wreckage was later identified as that of N 8225H.
