C 46 Commando Air Accident Reading Pa.
 Armed services C-46 similar to the plane that crashed | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | December 29, 1951 |
| Summary | Controlled flying into terrain (CFIT) |
| Site | Bucktooth Ridge, near Napoli, New York |
| Shipping | |
| Aircraft type | Curtiss C-46 Commando |
| Operator | Continental Charters Inc |
| Registration | N3944C |
| Flight origin | Miami, Florida |
| Stopover | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Destination | Buffalo, New York |
| Occupants | 40 |
| Passengers | 36 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 26 |
| Injuries | 14 |
| Survivors | 14 |
Continental Charters Flight 44-ii, a domestic non scheduled passenger flight from Miami, Florida to Buffalo, New York, crashed on December 29, 1951 nigh Napoli, New York. The twin engine C-46 Commando, registration N3944C, crashed approximately ten:25 pm in adverse weather conditions. Of the 4 crew and 36 passengers on board, iii crew members and 23 passengers perished.[one] The flight coiffure's poor judgment in attempting a flight by visual reference during instrument weather weather was the accident source.[2]
Pre-accident narrative [edit]
Continental Charters (no connection to the former Continental Airlines) Flight 44-ii originated in Miami, Florida where the airline was based. Continental Charters operated without a regular schedule and was equipped with military surplus aircraft, allowing the company to offer discounted fares. After a 7-60 minutes filibuster due to mechanical problems, Flying 44-two departed Miami and arrived safely but belatedly into Pittsburgh'due south Allegheny County Airdrome. The flight carried a crew of 4, 24 passengers bound for Pittsburgh, and a backup crew of three who were to fly the plane dorsum to Miami. The plan was to end in Pittsburgh, deplane the 24 passengers, then go to Buffalo, return to Pittsburgh, so return to Miami. The coiffure opted to board 29 passengers waiting in Pittsburgh for the flight to Miami, fly to Buffalo and and so return directly from Buffalo to Miami to brand upwardly lost time. The crew too opted to fly VFR direct to Buffalo from Pittsburgh instead of filing a flight program under instrument flight rules that would take them in a less than direct route to Buffalo. Flight under instrument flight rules would likewise accept required an additional delay for refueling in Pittsburgh. When the crew filed their VFR fight plan, they were advised that stations forth the proposed road (Bradford, Pennsylvania and Jamestown, New York) were reporting ceilings and visibility below VFR minimums. The weather condition briefer further stated that VFR flight was not recommended over their intended route due to low ceilings and poor visibility.[iii] [4]
Mishap flight [edit]
Continental Charters Flight 44-ii left Pittsburgh at nine:47 pm. The direct course to Buffalo (heading 018 degrees true) would accept the flight slightly due east of Jamestown, New York and into Buffalo. Reports of witnesses on the ground located by accident investigators after the crash indicated that the aircraft began drifting east of the directly route soon afterward takeoff. The aeroplane was as well reported to have been flight very depression and that the conditions was very poor, with zero ceiling and visibility along the route. The plane's flight path, miles e of the direct course, resulted in the aircraft flight over significantly higher terrain, the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, than the flight would have encountered on the direct route.[3]
The just surviving crew member, a flight attendant, later recounted that the two relief pilots went frontwards into the cockpit just before the crash. Loud discussion and cursing was heard among the pilots. Moments later, the crash sequence began.[4]
Crash scene [edit]
The crash sequence began about 38 minutes into the flying. The aircraft first struck the tiptop of a tree 60 feet above the ground located almost 100 feet below the top of wooded ridge. The ridge, chosen 'Bucktooth Ridge,' is 2375 feet in elevation. Forrard motion continued for 933 feet equally the aircraft struck other copse and disintegrated from the impact. All major parts of the aircraft were accounted for. The only function of the shipping that was not destroyed was the aft passenger compartment, which rolled to a cease at the far stop of the debris field. All 14 survivors were seated in this section. There was no post crash burn down. The aircraft was afterward written off as a total loss.[3]
Post crash survival [edit]
The ordeal had but begun for the survivors of Flight 44-2. The 14 survivors spent two days and 2 nights at the crash site in below freezing temperatures waiting to exist rescued. Snowfall was breast high in the area. Two men tried to walk out to get help on the twenty-four hours afterwards the crash only had to plow back. On the second mean solar day, one of the men was able to become to a subcontract house several miles away and get help. All fourteen survivors had injuries of varying severity and were taken to hospital.[4]
Accident investigation [edit]
The crash was investigated past the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). The investigation found that the crew, the shipping and the carrier were properly certified and that the aircraft was properly loaded and fueled. They establish that in that location was no malfunction of the aircraft and the engines were operating properly. The investigation also found that the crew filed a VFR flight plan when instrument atmospheric condition weather prevailed over the proposed route and that flight was conducted below the prescribed minimum altitude for VFR night operations. The likely crusade was determined to be "the captain'due south poor judgement in attempting a flight by visual reference during instrument weather weather condition."[three]
Implications [edit]
The accident occurred just equally rider airline service was developing in the United States. To control public perceptions that air travel was unsafe, the CAB Chairman Donald Nyrop visited the crash scene on January i, 1952 and reassured the public that the crash had not been caused by a mechanical failure of the airplane. The loss of Flight 44-ii also led to new airline safety rules. The CAB issued a draft regulation on March 10, 1952, requiring that night visual flights on passenger planes in large aircraft be conducted only on designated routes and between airports equipped with radio communications.[4]
Encounter also [edit]
- Aviation accidents and incidents
- List of accidents and incidents involving airliners in the United States
- Listing of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft
References [edit]
- ^ Manifestly Crash Information, 1951, accident 69
- ^ Aviation Condom Database, record id=19511229-0
- ^ a b c d The Civil Aeronautics Board Accident Investigation Study File Number ane-0101 March 7, 1952
- ^ a b c d The Buffalo (NY) News, Commodity 691535
External links [edit]
- Accident clarification at the Aviation Safety Network
- "Investigation of Aircraft Accident: CONTINENTAL CHARTERS: NEAR Niggling VALLEY, NEW YORK: 1951-12-29". Civil Aeronautics Board. March seven, 1952. - PDF
- Timothy Lake (Dec 31, 2011). "Crash of Flight 44-ii led to new airline safe regulations". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on 2012-01-17.
- Timothy Lake (January 14, 2012). "Tragedy In The Heaven: 1951 Catt. County Crash Helped Shape Future Of Airline Industry". The Mail service-Journal.
- "AP Report of the Crash of Flight 44-2 (with pictures of crash site and names of crew and passengers)". The Associated Press. December 31, 1951. Archived from the original on Jan 17, 2012.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Charters_Flight_44-2
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