In 1975, Air South was acquired by Florida Airlines and became a wholly owned subsidiary, along with Shawnee Airlines.[2] Over the following years, Air South continued flight operations under its own branding. As a consequence of the Airline Deregulation Act, it was eventually shut down in 1978. Florida Airlines then operated as Florida Airlines and Air South until 1981.[3]
Route network
In the early 1970s, Air South offered a network of domestic flights to the following destinations:[2][4]
Accidents and incidents
On 6 July 1969, the twelve passengers and two pilots of Air South Flight 168 died when the aircraft, a Beechcraft Model 99 (registered N844NS), crashed 10 kilometers northwest of Monroe, Georgia at 21:22 local time. Investigation into the accident revealed that the airplane had been at cruise level during a flight from Atlanta to Greenville/Spartanburg in South Carolina, when it went into an unwanted high speed nose-down dive. Because of the extreme pulling forces when they tried to regain control, both pilots were likely incapacitated so that the plane couldn't be maneuvered anymore.[1]
On 31 March 1974, another Air South Beech 99 (registered N848NS) was destroyed when a fire broke out during taxiing at Malcolm McKinnon Airport. The two pilots and both passengers who planned to fly to Atlanta escaped before the airplane was engulfed by the flames.[5]
