Allegheny Airlines Flight 863 collides in mid-air with a Piper PA-28 Cherokee over Moral Township, Shelby County, Indiana, killing all 83 people on board both aircraft.

Allegheny Airlines Flight 853 was a regularly scheduled Allegheny Airlines flight from Boston, Massachusetts, to St. Louis, Missouri, with stops in Baltimore, Maryland, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Indiana. On September 9, 1969, the aircraft serving the flight, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, collided in mid-air with a Piper PA-28 light aircraft near Fairland, Indiana. The DC-9 was carrying 78 passengers and 4 crew members, and the Piper was leased to a student pilot on a solo cross-country flight. All 83 occupants of both aircraft were killed in the accident and both aircraft were destroyed.

In aviation, a mid-air collision is an accident in which two or more aircraft come into unplanned contact during flight.

The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use. The PA-28 family of aircraft comprises all-metal, unpressurized, single piston-engined airplanes with low mounted wings and tricycle landing gear. They have a single door on the right side, which is entered by stepping on the wing.

Moral Township is one of fourteen townships in Shelby County, Indiana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 4,577 and it contained 1,805 housing units.

September 9 is the 252nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 113 days remain until the end of the year.