Portal:Civil Aeronautics Board

“ While executing a landing at Cincinnati Airport, Trip 20 encountered a sudden squall condition accompanied by heavy rain which ballooned the aircraft into the air and altered its heading.
14. At the top of the rise Captain Bryant, even though his forward visibility was almost zero, elected to continue his landing rather than to apply power and circle the field, and the aircraft contacted the ground to the left of the runway intended to be used and rolled into a levee which borders the airport along its eastern boundary. ”

“ All the forecasts predicted the arrival of the storm in the vicinity of Cincinnati some time after midnight and on that assumption the assistant flight superintendent on duty at Chicago issued authority for Trip 20 to proceed non-stop on instruments from Chicago, Illinois, to Cincinnati, Ohio. Captain Bryant's flight plan, which he prepared after conference with the company meteorologist, called for a cruising altitude of 5,000 feet for the Chicago-Cincinnati portion of the route. ”

“ Captain Bryant stated that while the aircraft was gliding close to the ground prior to landing the wheels made very light contact with the ground at a point about 1,000 feet south of the runway range light in the unpaved portion of the runway No. 6, north of the intersection with runway No. 5. Simultaneously with the contact a violent squall accompanied by heavy rain struck the aircraft, causing it to balloon up to a height of at least 25 feet, and its left wing to drop appreciably. ”

“ At the time of the accident American Airlines, Inc., held a currently effective certificate of public convenience and necessity and an air carrier operating certificate authorizing it to conduct the flight. ”

“ When an aircraft takes off at its maximum provisional gross weight, the weight of the aircraft must be reduced by gasoline consumption at least to the standard gross weight for landing prior to arrival at its next scheduled stop. If sufficient gasoline has not been consumed between the time of take-off and any emergency landing, gasoline can be dumped by the use of tested and approved dump valves in order to reduce the total weight to the approved gross weight for landing. ”

“ At the time of departure from Chicago, Illinois, for Cincinnati, Ohio, the aircraft carried sufficient fuel to permit flight at normal cruising power to Cincinnati, thence to Columbus, its alternate airport, and thereafter for more than four hours. ”

“ TERMINAL FORECASTS:
Trip Forecast General: Overcast Chicago, base of clouds reported 5000 feet, with top above 10,000 feet. No icing reported in overcast. Base of upper overcast lifting to unlimited through Indianapolis-Cincinnati-Columbus area, with top lower layer estimated 7,000 to 8,000 feet. Light rain—Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati—and spreading through Columbus area. Cloudiness becoming overcast to broken unlimited ceilings, Pittsburgh ”

“ Additional facilities as well as further development of the science of meteorology are necessary in order that more accurate forecasts can be made in predicting the acceleration in movements of air masses. ”

“ Captain Bryant climbed the aircraft to 5,000 feet above sea level and, flying at this altitude in accordance with his flight plan, proceeded on instruments toward Cincinnati. Position reports were made by radio over "fixes" [5] at the Goshen, Indiana, radio range intersection; Lafayette, Indiana; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Milroy, Indiana. At 7:45 p.m. (EST) , shortly before reporting over Indianapolis, Trip 20 was contacted by American's company radio operator at Cincinnati and given the 7:35 p.m. ”

“ They are also usually equipped with a transmitter which operates on 278 kilocycles. ↑ Points at which the exact position of the aircraft may be determined by radio, e.g., a fan marker, a cone of silence marker over a radio range station, or an intersection of radio ranges. ↑ All of American's aircraft are equipped with two sensitive type altimeters as required by Section 04.532 (d) of the Civil Air Regulations. One of these instruments is kept adjusted in accordance with United States Weather Bureau reports to register altitude above sea level ”

“ Not only must its heading have been altered 15 degrees but the aircraft itself must have been borne to the east a distance of about 400 feet. However, it is not impossible for such a movement of the aircraft to have resulted from a violent gust of wind. Moreover, the testimony of some of the witnesses in the airport control tower substantiates the crew's contention in that it seemed to them that an alteration in heading occurred before the aircraft reached the intersection of runway No. ”