American Airlines

“ The flight, designated by American Airlines as Trip 11, originated at New York, New York, with Fort Worth, Texas, as its destination. Several intermediate steps were made, including the one at Little Rock. The flight proceeded normally until the landing at Municipal Airport, Little Rock, Arkansas, at approximately 11:20 p.m. While the ship was being taxied to the loading ramp, the right wheel dropped into a newly constructed ditch, located about 50 feet east of the ramp. ”

“ American Airlines, Inc., is a Delaware corporation and maintains its principal offices in New York, New York. The corporation holds a current certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Civil Aeronautics Board to engage in the transportation of persons, property, and mail. ”

“ American Airlines has a standard procedure requiring station managers to daily and frequent inspections of airports where construction work is being done, and keep a current map posted showing each work. ”

“ It involved a collision between an aircraft of U. S. registry NC 16017 and a U.S. Army Bomber B-34, at an altitude of about 9000 feet, on Civil Green Airway Number 5. At the time of the accident Douglas Aircraft NC 16017 was operating in scheduled air carrier service from Burbank, California, to Phoenix, Arizona, as part of Trip 28 of American Airlines, Inc. [2] The B-34 was being operated by the Ferrying Command of the U.S. Army Air Forces [3] on a ferrying flight from Long Beach, California, to Palm Springs, California. ”

“ A portion of the bird's body came through the windshield and was later found on the cockpit floor. The captain was leaning over to operate the flap valve when the bird struck the windshield and the first officer, who was at the controls, saw the bird strike and had time to dodge. The vision of both pilots was unaffected and Proper completed the landing without further incident.
American Airlines has instituted a program of altering all windshields by installing glass of greater thickness. This installation is being made as rapidly as glass of the proper quality (ripple free) can be obtained. ”

“ While one of Ballinger's colleagues assisted him, Ballinger remained responsible for multiple flights. See Ed Ballinger interview (Apr. 14, 2004) . American Airlines' policy called for the flight dispatcher to manage only the hijacked flight, relieving him of responsibilities for all other flights. On American Airlines' policy, see Craig Marquis, Craig Parfitt, Joe Bertapelle, and Mike Mulcahy interview (Nov. 19, 2003) . ”

“ In the near future perishable foods and other merchandise, which heretofore have taken several days to cross the country, will make the trip overnight.
With the coming of peace, air transport and commercial aviation will grow by leaps and bounds. All the leading airlines and many new ones are planning expanded schedules and looking forward to a great boom in air travel. New transport planes are going into production in the plants of all America’s well-known aircraft manufacturers. ”

“ All the major airlines contributed planes and crews to the vital needs of war. DC-3’s, which a few weeks before had been flying between our big cities, began to fly over oceans and mountain ranges in every quarter of the globe. At the start most of the planes used for Air Transport Command cargo were Douglas DC-3’s and DC-2’s and a few Boeing Stratoliners. The new Douglas DC-4’s being built for the airlines when war began went right off the production lines into service for the Army or Navy. ”

“ Prior to departure from LaGuardia the captain of Flight 383 was provided with a dispatch packet which included the company forecast for the Cincinnati terminal for the period 1600-2000. This forecast called for 1,200 feet broken, 3,500 feet overcast, visibility 4 miles, light rain, fog, variable to 1,000 feet overcast, visibility 2 miles, thunderstorm, moderate rain showers.
A weather information display board is also installed at the LaGuardia American Airlines Operations office. Company employees observed Captain Teelin briefing himself at this board at approximately 1600. ”

“ American Airlines, Inc., having filed with the Board on September 20, 1945, pursuant to sections 238.3 and 238.5 of the Economic Regulations, notices of its intention to inaugurate on September 30, 1945, non-stop services between Nashville, Tennessee, and Roanoke, Virginia, between Roanoke, Virginia, and Washington, D. C., and between Bristol, Virginia, and Lynchburg, Virginia, on route No. ”

“ There is no finding that any passenger missed a plane because of the confusion. If passengers mistakenly bought North American service, believing it to be American, a finding of unfair or deceptive practices or unfair methods of competition under § 411 would be justified. That is a type of public confusion quite different from the confusion found in this case reporting to the wrong ticket counter or attempting to retrieve baggage from the wrong carrier. ”

“ The speed of air travel may well be diminished when passengers check in for flights with the wrong carrier, or attempt to retrieve baggage from the wrong carrier, or attempt to purchase transportation from the wrong carrier, or direct their inquiries to the wrong carrier.' Docket Nos. 5774 and 5928 (Nov. 4, 1953) , 12-13 (mimeo) . (Italics added.)
I would not permit the Board to find a violation of § 411 so easily. We should require a finding that the confusion has actually caused some impairment of air service or that at least there is an imminent threat of such impairment. ”

“ Subsequent investigation disclosed that the military plane on the runway was one of nine which had been refueling near the administration building just south of the east-west runway at the time loud speakers announced the approach and intended landing of Trip 1. The airport manager had intended that the pilots of those nine planes cross the east-west runway at a runway intersection farther west and then return east to a designated parking space north of the east-west runway. ”

“ 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. ”

“ These certification authorized it to engage in air transportation with respect to persons, property, and mail between various points including Burbank, California; Phoenix and Tuscon, Arizona; El Paso, Fort Worth, and Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Washington, D. C.; and New York, New York.
Flight Personnel
On American Trip 28, the crew consisted of Charles Fred Pedly, captain, Louis Frederick Reppert, Jr. ”

“ According to his statement, he decided to land on the grass-covered area east of the runway because in doing so he could use the Administration Building as a marker in lining up for a straight landing and also because the portion of the field was clearer of ground fog than the western part of the field. The airplane overshot 2,450 feet of the available landing area of 3,880 feet. The wheels first touched the ground on the grass approximately 152 feet east of the runway and the airplane continued its landing roll parallel to the runway. ”

“ The copilot's (No. 2) altimeter was found at a barometric scale setting of 29.03 inches with the index marker positioned at 815 feet. Only portions of the center instrument panel (No. 3) altimeter were recovered and no barometric, index marker, or drum position information could be obtained. A discussion of the American Airlines procedures for altimeter utilization and related procedures will be found in section 1.15 under the heading of AA altimeter procedures.
1.13 Fire Following impact an intense ground fire erupted which completely destroyed the aircraft cabin forward of the tail section. ”

“ The new airliners will be so fast that there will be no need for sleeper planes on coast-to-coast trips. Sleeper planes will be used only on long overseas trips. The planes will all carry more passengers during the day and that means that air travel will be almost as economical as surface travel.
The big planes for world travel will be ships like the seventy-ton Martin Mars flying boat and the giant Pan American Consolidated 204-passenger Model 37. Donald Douglas is building two new luxury airliners, the fifty-passenger DC-6 and the 108-passenger DC-7. ”

“ Our air transportation system is the greatest in the world and the primary public carrier in the United States. Moreover, some eighty-five percent of the aircraft in use throughout the world are of United States manufacture, and the free world's seven largest airlines are United States flag carriers. ”

“ It demands no costly investment in fixed rights of way; its right of way is the air, which is free and infinitely flexible. Since the speed of the airplane permits it to transport goods a maximum of ton-miles for a minimum of initial investment, airline ownership of property of any kind is at a minimum. During the thirty-year life of air-mail service, the United States Post Office Department has recovered through sales of air-mail stamps alone more than it has paid out to the airlines for carrying the mails. ”

“ There is no doubt that, had the United States government supported its aircraft companies to the same extent as did the British government, commercial aviation in America would have traveled along a smooth road. Even without this support it has made excellent progress. Successful regular services are established between Los Angeles and San Diego, and elsewhere in the West, and in the East many passengers have been carried between New York and Atlantic City, and around the coast of Florida. Plans are being laid for various other airways, including one between Key West and Havana. ”

“ Bad weather would often ground a flight and passengers were almost as uncertain as the weather. Many of those pioneer operators had to depend on the dollar-a-ride hops of Sunday sightseers to “keep the wolf from the door.” One service operated 14-passenger converted Navy seaplanes on a route between New York and Havana, and another route between Cleveland and Detroit. Most of these pioneer air transport Operations lasted for only a short time, due to the heavy cost of maintaining the planes and the lack of properly marked air routes. ”

“ So I'm pleased to say we've worked very hard. I think, as you probably have seen, we've put out a press release that we have now had discussions with almost all the airlines. I've personally had discussions with all the major airlines' CEOs. We specifically created an exception for small airlines that we could process very quickly. ”

“ The Hand on the Stick Early in 1949 the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee of the Senate, under the chairmanship of Senator Edwin C. Johnson of Colorado, began inquiring into the ills of the airline transport industry. Senator Johnson had sat at my table at the dinner given by the aircraft manufacturers to Congressional leaders in aviation in Washington some five years earlier. A man well informed on the whole subject, he now began directing an inquiry that promised to initiate an important forward step in the formulation of American air policy. ”

“ The circular that caused the revolution in the Anclote Boat Club was as follows:
Tested Aeroplanes Ready for Delivery
The flying machine is here to stay, and any one who can afford the luxury of a ride in the air should investigate. The aeroplane is no longer a novelty or [150] a wonder. The American Aeroplane Company, organized with a paid-up capital stock of $1,000,000, is now ready to deliver reliable and tested aeroplanes, standardized in make-up, and ready to fly. We offer F. O. B., Newark, New Jersey, complete cars for $3,000, and upward. They comprehend every development up to date. ”

“ To comply with the law requiring separation of manufacturing companies from transport organizations, United Airlines was split off into a separate company known as United Airlines Transport Corporation. With the transport link between the eastern and western manufacturing groups thus disrupted, we divided them into two separate companies. The four Connecticut companies, Pratt and Whitney, Hamilton-Standard, Chance Vought, and Sikorsky, comprised the new United Aircraft Corporation. The western group took the name of Boeing Airplane Company. ”

“ In the four emergency parachute jumps described herein, it is apparent that in each case the plane would never have been flown with passengers under the conditions which necessitated the jump.
Commercial air transport has developed rapidly during the last few years, until today it has reached a stage where the safety of properly operated airlines compares favorably with other means of travel. ”

“ This year more than 450 million American passengers will use aircraft, the world's fastest and safest transportation. In the 84 years since the Wright Brothers' first flight, American aviation, in cooperation with the Federal government, has continued to improve the safety and the efficiency of air travel. Thanks to both industry and the Federal Aviation Administration, this effort goes on today. ”

“ A big plane must have two engines, one of which could keep the plane flying if the other failed. Boeing went to work with this in mind.
Near Los Angeles, the young man who had been dreaming of big commercial transport planes since the Wright Brothers’ trials at Fort Meyer, also was thinking of two-engined transports that could fly on one engine. From the time Donald Douglas’ World Cruisers had circled the globe, his aircraft had grown larger and larger. His orders, however, were for Army, Navy, and Coast Guard planes; not for great commercial airliners. ”