Aviation accident

“ Where an aviator of any prominence is injured, or succumbs to an accident, the event is accorded an amount of attention little short of that given the death of some one prominent in official life. During the four years that aviation has been to the fore, about 104 men and one woman have been killed, not including the deaths of three or four spectators resulting from accidents to aeroplanes, during this period—i.e., from the beginning of 1908 to the end of 1911. ”

“ And the dangers of flight are growing less and less every year as the machine is improved and as the aviator becomes more skilful and more experienced in air conditions. The report of the French Government for 1911 shows that there have been only one-tenth as many fatal accidents in proportion to the number of flights made, as in the first year of aviation, but each accident has made ten times as much stir. ”

“ Examination was made of the wreckage including the engines, propellers, instruments, radio equipment, controls and other parts of the aircraft, by technical representatives of the Civil Aeronautics Board. The results of this examination showed that there was no structural or mechanical failure of the airplane prior to the time it struck the trees southeast of the airport. ”

“ The uniform distribution of the wreckage ahead of the point of impact indicated that no rotation around the longitudinal or vertical axis of the airplane was occurring at the time of impact, which would in itself eliminate the possibility that the airplane was actually in a spin when it struck, although it would still leave the chance that the airplane might have been in a spin, which the pilot had checked, and that it had struck the ground before it had been possible for him to complete the flattening out of the flight path from the subsequent dive before striking the ground. ”

“ An air collision between EAL's Flight 45 en route from Boston, Mass., to Miami, Fla., and a USAAF A-26 aircraft engaged in local practice flight resulted fatally to one occupant of the airliner and to two occupants of the Army plane, major damage to the first plane and demolition of the latter. ”

“ The Board would be remiss if it did not take cognizance of the concern that existed in the minds of many elements of the aviation community and traveling public regarding the three Boeing 727 fatal accidents that occurred within a short period of time. ”

“ Observers on the ground heard the plane pass ever the field headed east and, from the sound, the engine was functioning normally. The wreckage was found at a point about four and one-half miles east of the airport and indicated that the pilot had turned back, probably to effect a landing. The plane had flown into a road embankment with the engine full on and the force of impact had practically disintegrated the plane. ”

“ Icing conditions existed at the time and a mechanic called the pilot's attention to a coating of ice then on the wings and landing gear of the plane which in places was one-quarter of an inch thick.
The pilot elected to continue the flight and take-off was accomplished using a major portion of the long runway. As soon as the plane was well off the ground, it was observed to make a flat turn, as though returning to land. When at an altitude of approximately 200 feet and apparently about to assume a glide into the field, the airplane was seen to waver and fall into a spiral descent. ”

“ A Douglas DC-3 aircraft, NC 17332, owned and operated by American Airlines, Inc., received minor damage in an accident which occurred at about 9:17 p.m. on February 5, 1942, at the Municipal Airport, Little Rock, Arkansas. No injuries were sustained by any of the seven passengers or the crew of three. ”

“ The pilot headed south in an effort to land outside of the tower but was unsuccessful. The airplane came to rest at a 45° angle with the nose in some trees and the tail on the ground. The right engine was torn free of the airplane by the force of impact. ”

“ In at least one of these cases the speed of the airplane at which failure occurred was in excess of normal. In each instance the pilot was able to control the airplane sufficiently to effect a safe landing. From these experiences and from analysis it appears that such failure of the structure in this type aircraft may result either from air loads occasioned in encouraging gusts of extraordinary intensity, or from violent use of the controls. In one of these three instances, the stabilizer also sustained slight damage, insufficient however to render the surfaces inoperative. ”

“ Aircraft, while on final approach to land, or while landing, have the right-of—way over other aircraft in flight or operating on the surface. When two or more aircraft are approaching an airport for the purpose of landing, the aircraft at the lower altitude has the right—of-way, but it shall not take advantage of this rule to out in in front of another which is on final approach to land, or to overtake that aircraft. ”

“ Happenings of so insignificant a nature that in any commonplace calling would not be considered worthy of mention at all, are "played up." This is particularly the case with fatalities, and the eagerness to cater to the morbid streak in human nature has been responsible for the unusual amount of attention devoted to any or all accidents to flying machines, and more especially where they have a fatal ending. In fact, this has led to the chronicling of many deaths in the field of aviation that have not happened—some of them where there was not even an accident of any kind. ”

“ American Airlines Flight 383, Boeing 727, N1996, a regularly scheduled passenger flight nonstop from LaGuardia Airport, New York to Cincinnati, Ohio, crashed and burned near the Greater Cincinnati Airport on November 8, 1965, at approximately 1902 e.s.t. Fifty-eight of the 62 persons on board were fatally injured in the accident.
The flight was conducting a visual landing approach to runway 18 when it crashed into a wooded hillside approximately two miles north of the runway. ”

“ The pilot attempted to land on the east-west runway, toward the east, but undershot, contacting the ground about 8 feet from the field boundary and 75 feet from the runway. The wheels struck the boundary, made up of loose rocks approximately fifteen inches high. The aircraft bounced into the air slightly, contacted the ground again very smoothly, and rolled straight ahead for several hundred feet before veering to the right and coming to rest about 1800 feet from the field boundary.
Subsequent investigation indicated that the right landing gear failed when it struck the rocks. ”

“ There were no known witnesses to the accident from the ground. John Raymond Wilcher, mill foreman, whose home is located in Cedar Valley, about 8 miles north of the scene of the wreckage, testified that he had gotten out of bed on the night of the accident to ascertain whether his son had come home, and he had reason to observe the time, which was 1:05 a.m. He stated that he returned to bed and stayed awake for a time he estimated to have been 10 or 15 minutes when he heard an airplane. ”

“ Foote recall seeing any smoke, as described by Captain Cann and First Officer Loveless, lying or drifting across the runway. Although he had, from time to time, before the accident, been able to discern boundary lights on the southwest end of the field about 3000 feet distant, he could not see those lights at the time of the accident.
From the condition of the tires, landing gear, right propeller blades and right wing tip of the airplane, it is apparent that the contact with the ground was severe. ”

“ If the pilots were blinded by a lightning flash their immediate concern would have been to avoid stalling of the airplane while their disability continued. In seeking to be perfectly safe on that point they might have over-corrected by pushing the machine into a dive, and with both pilots pushing on the control column together the force required might have been overlooked under conditions of such stress and the dive continued until the ground was reached. ”

“ At this time, the right engine stopped, throwing the plane slightly to the right. The pilot immediately switched back to the left tank and the co-pilot continued to use the wobble pump but did not feel that any fuel was getting through. As the plane started to settle, the left engine slowly lost speed and the plane slid off on the right wing and nose, cartwheeling some seventy-five feet and coming to rest in an upright position. ”

“ After an exhaustive review and evaluation of the available evidence, the Board has become convinced that the cause of the accident is directly related to the manner in which the crew operated the flight and indirectly related to certain specific factors that may have influenced or affected the crew during the landing approach. ”

“ On May 28, 1935, at approximately 10:26 p.m., at a point about 4 miles SW of Nilwood, Illinois, an airplane of United States registry piloted by a licensed airman, while being operated in scheduled flight carrying mail, express, and one non-pay passenger, accidentally collided with the ground, with resultant death to the pilot and passenger and the complete destruction of the aircraft and cargo. ”

“ A nose-high side-slip may be fatal, but generally the pilot pulls himself out of it. There may have been men killed in landing accidents, but one seldom hears of them. Men have been killed trying to loop off the ground, and Vernon Castle was killed doing an Immelmann turn at fifty feet to avoid another machine. These are the exceptions. The common or garden variety of accident is from a spin. The spin once conquered, the air is conquered. ”

“ From the appearance of the wreckage and facts available, it is believed that the pilot, while attempting to complete an emergency landing, lost control of the plane due to the absence of the weight of the left outboard engine and the resulting disturbed airflow over the wing. ”

“ After an examination of the wreckage at the scene of the accident the right engine and the right engine mount were removed from the aircraft under the supervision of investigators of the Board and were transported by them to the National Bureau of Standards, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C., for a tear-down inspection. The airplane, the right engine, and the right engine mount were released to PCA upon conclusion of the investigation. ”

“ It is so in aviation. The number of casualties is remarkably small in comparison with the number of flights made. In the hands of competent men the sailing of an airship should be, and is, freer from risk of accident than the running of a railway train. There are no rails to spread or break, no bridges to collapse, no crossings at which collisions may occur, no chance for some sleepy or overworked employee to misunderstand the dispatcher's orders and cause a wreck. ”

“ It can move through the air at forty miles an hour, but high speed will cause it to buckle in the nose.
Bump—A rising or falling column of air which may be met while flying. A machine will be bumped up or bumped down on a bumpy day. A hot day over flat country, at noon, will generally be exceedingly bumpy.
Crash—Any airplane accident. It may be a complete wreck or the plane may only be slightly injured by a careless landing. Crashes are often classified by the extent of damage. A class A crash, for instance, is a complete washout. A class D crash is an undercarriage and propeller broken. ”

“ PAGE AIRWAYS, INC. — WASHINGTON — APRIL 27, 1945 [1]
Summary
Power interruption during a take-off climb induced a forced landing resulting in death to six passengers and injury to five others and to the crew of two at the National Airport, Washington, D. C., at approximately 1240 EWT on April 27, 1945. The aircraft was completely destroyed by impact and resultant fire. ”

“ Shortly after this, the plane, flying at about 1,500 feet, was seen to go into a glide with the engine throttled for a couple of hundred feet. As it levelled out, both wings went into a vertical dive over which the pilot had no control. WItnesses state that the plane had not engaged in any acrobatics and that the glide which preceded the folding back of the wings was not excessive. ”

“ An accident involving aircraft NC 15376, a Sikorsky S-42B, occurred during a landing in the harbor at San Juan, Puerto Rico, on October 3, 1941, about 5:48 p.m. (EST) , while the aircraft was operating in scheduled air carrier service between Miami, Flordia, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, as Trip 203 of Pan American Airways, Inc. [1] The accident resulted in the destruction of the aircraft, fatal injuries to two passengers, serious injuries to two members of the crew, and minor injuries to four members of the crew and seven passengers. The remaining passengers were not injured. ”

“ The plane must have entered a torrential downpour of rain at the time of, or immediately following, the flash of lightning in its vicinity, and if the cockpit windows had been smashed in, the pilots might have been subjected not only to the violent impact of flying pieces of glass but also to a withering stream of water striking them with all the force of the airplane's speed through the air of 150 miles an hour and upwards. ”

“ Although the pilot applied brakes, he was unable to stop the airplane on the wet ground, and it continued beyond the boundary of the airport onto the soft, bumpy ground. After two or three bumps it stopped, nosed up, and fell back sharply on its tail. ”