Raleigh

During the takeoff run, at 85 knots, the aircraft hit a bump and the pilot stated his forward vision was obstructed by water on the windshield. He instinctively pulled back on the controls and become airborne. He lost sight of the right side set of runway lights and was reportedly flying 'blind.' The aircraft drifted left into trees and came to rest in shallow water in a backwater area 150 feet north of the departure end of runway 10. Many of the runway lights were either not operating or were obstructed. No lights in the last 1000 feet of the runway were both operating and unobstructed. The noaa airport/facility director contains a remark for the airport 'runway subject to flooding after very heavy rains.' This remark does not appear in the Jeppesen 'airport directory' that the pilot was using. After the accident the pilot stated he walked through the eastern end of the runway and found himself 'up to his ankles' in about 3 inches of water. All four occupants escaped with minor injuries.

While on approach to Hammondsport-Taylor-Van Gelder Airstrip in excellent weather conditions, the pilot failed to realize his altitude was too low when the airplane struck a mountain and crashed few miles from Hammondsport. Two passengers were rescued while three other occupants were killed.

The flight was designated as No. 4-2 because it was being operated as the second section of a regularly scheduled cargo flight that left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on April 4. Flight 4-2 departed Fort Lauderdale April 5, 1952, at 0055, with a crew consisting of Captain William B. Crockett, Jr., and Copilot Jack L. Woerderhoff. The destination was Teterboro, New Jersey, with intermediate stops at Charleston. South Carolina, and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. The gross weight of the aircraft upon departure was less than the maximum of 48,000 pounds permitted in cargo operations, and the load was placed so that the aircraft's center of gravity was within prescribed limits. This first segment of the flight was conducted according to visual flight rules. It was entirely routine with a landing at Charleston at 0328. Fuel was added but no cargo was loaded or discharged at Charleston. Takeoff from Charleston was at 0410, with a flight plan calling for instrument flight rules. Again the gross weight was less than the allowable and the center of gravity was within prescribed limits. This segment of the flight was also routine, with a landing at Raleigh-Durham at 0524. Again the cargo remained unchanged although 284 gallons of fuel were added. At Rale-gh-Durhan the pilots were briefed at the office of the U. S. Weather Bureau on current and forecast weather conditions over the route. It was indicated that no difficulty should be encountered en route to the New York area, but the ceilings and visibilities there and at Philadelphia, the alternate, would be 800 feet and live miles with heavy rain upon arrival. At 0554 the crew filed a flight plan according to instrument flight rules to cruise from Raleigh-Durham to new York International Airport (Idlewild) at 3,000 feet. The original destination, Teterboro, was changed because of worsening weather there, and the alternate was Philadelphia International Airport. The estimated time en route was two hours and ten minutes. The aircraft carried fuel for four hours' flight. The 0528 weather sequence reported Idlewild, the destination, as 2,100 feet ceiling and 4-mile visibility, and Philadelphia, the alternate, as also above minimums. Upon departure from Raleigh-Durham at 0608 the aircraft's gross weight was about 172 pounds less than its maximum allowable of 48,000 pounds, and its center of gravity was within prescribed limits. The flight proceeded uneventfully at its planned altitude of 3,000 feet. Routine position reports were made through Air Route Traffic Control and arrival over the Idlewild range station was estimated at 0810. At 0809 the flight was instructed by ARTC (Air Route Traffic Control) to climb to 3,500 feet and to contact Idlewild Approach Control when over Scotland Intersection (where the south-west leg of the Idlewild range intersects the southeast leg of the Newark range). The next instruction to the flight was from Idlewild Approach Control and directed it to hold at Scotland at 3,500 feet, and to expect approach clearance at 0828. The flight reported over Scotland at 3,500 feet at 0817. Immediately following the flight was given Idlewild weather as follows: "Weather 0804 time now 0817, measured 500 broken, 1800 overcast, visibility 1 1/2 miles in heavy rain, the altimeter 29.82." The approach controller first saw the flight on the airport surveillance radar (ASR) when it was approaching Scotland. He asked the flight if it could make a straight-in approach from its present position and the flight replied affirmatively. It was then cleared for a straight-in approach, instructed to descend immediately, and to report passing through 2,500 feet. The flight acknowledged and subsequently reported leaving 2,500 feet, and then leaving 2,000 feet. The controller then cleared the flight to continue descent, to advise upon reaching 1,500 feet, and then cleared it to "pass over Runway 4 and make left turn into Runway 13 left." The next contact with the flight was at 0825, when it reported "contact" over the outer marker, located at the Idlewild range station, 2.9 miles from the approach end of Runway No. 4. The local controller then took over control of the flight and advised it to "bear left and make a right turn into Runway 13L, that's the big runway on the north side of the airport, and call base leg coming up on the Federal Building. Go ahead and you'll probably De west of the Federal Building when you call." This was acknowledged by the flight, which presumably intended to comply because the message was not questioned. At 0827 the local controller saw the aircraft below the overcast and at an estimated altitude of 500 feet, between the tower and Runway 4. 2 He at once transmitted, "Just saw you pass over the airport. You should be passing those hangars now. If you start your left turn and watch the hangers on your left wing, you'll be able to make a left turn into Runway One Three. Go ahead, sir." The landing gear appeared to be fully extended, but the flap position was not noticed. A few seconds later the aircraft disappeared from view on a northerly heading and still at an estimated altitude of 500 feet. The local controller at once asked the flight if it had started the left turn, and the flight replied that it was pilling up to execute a missed approach. The tower gave immediate instruction to turn right and proceed to Long Beach intersection (the SE leg of the Idlewild Range and the SW leg of the Hempstead Range, about 10 miles SE of Idlewild) at 1,500 feet altitude. This transmission was acknowledged. This was the last communication from the flight. A very short time later the aircraft crashed at the intersection of 169th Street and 89th Avenue, Jamaica, New York, about 4.4 miles north of the Idlewild control tower.

The flight departed from Miami, Fla., for Boston, Mass., at approximately 1610, January, 1949, with a crew consisting of Stuart L. Morrill, pilot, and Theodore Catz, copilot. A landing was made at Morrison Field, West Palm Beach, Fla., where 6,255 pounds of flowers were loaded. With the flowers, 3,600 pounds of fuel, 254 pounds of oil, and the crew, the airplane weighed 26,944 pounds at time of takeoff, which was 44 pounds above the allowable of 26,900 pounds. All cargo was loaded so that the center of gravity of the airplane was within the certificated limits. Departure from West Palm Beach was accomplished at approximately 1900 after which the flight proceeded without incident to its first fueling stop, Raleigh-Durham, NC. While on the Raleigh-Durham Airport the airplane was fueled to its capacity of 700 gallons, which was 100 gallons more than was on board at West Palm Beach. As a result, the airplane weighed 27,544 pounds when taking off from Raleigh, which constituted an overload of 644 pounds. Because of unfavorable weather conditions, takeoff had been delayed until 0610, January 6, 1949. The flight then continued en route to Boston following an instrument flight plan. Forty-five minutes after departure from Raleigh, at 0655, a routine position report was received by Richmond Radio that the flight was over Richmond, Va., at 9,000 feet. Washington Radio attempted to contact the flight at 0707, but no further communication was received from the flight by any CAA communication station although continuous efforts were made for a period of approximately 50 minutes. The airplane was observed at approximately 0720 over Brandywine, MD, at considerable altitude immediately underneath a cloud deck, proceeding in normal level flight in a northerly direction. Then, to those on the ground, it appeared that the airplane turned left and spun for two complete turns, losing considerable altitude. Partial recovery was made, but the airplane began spinning for a second time to the left. Again it appeared that a partial recovery was made, but again the aircraft spun to the left, losing altitude to below 3,000 feet. After this, ground observers watched the aircraft fly level but erratically for a brief period. They were able to see that the right horizontal stabilizer was deflected upward to a near vertical position, and that the right elevator was missing. The airplane then entered a diving left turn, and crashed 1,500 yards southeast of the Brandywine radio range station. Fire started shortly after impact. Both crew members were killed.

After refueling to 600 gallons of gasoline, the flight departed at 0553 on an instrument flight plan to Miami, via Airway Amber 7, at an altitude of 2,000 feet. The crew reported over the Florence, South Carolina, range station at 0643 at an altitude of 2,000 feet. At 0716 they reported over Charleston, South Carolina, at an altitude of 2,000 feet, and estimated their arrival over Savannah at 0744. This was the last communication received from the flight. Between Charleston and Savannah, Co-pilot Eick left the cockpit to obtain navigational charts, during which time he heard one or both of the engines run roughly. By the time he returned to his seat, however, both engines were again operating normally. A few minutes later both engines stopped, and the fuel pressure gauges were observed to be at zero. The wobble pump was used, different positions of the fuel tank selector valves were tried, the cross-feed valves were turned to the “on” position, but no fuel pressure could be obtained. When it became apparent that the engines could not be restarted, Captain Antonioli informed the co-pilot that it would be necessary to make a forced landing in a nearby marsh, and instructed him to see that the passengers were secured by safety belts. Co-pilot Eick proceeded immediately to the cabin where he buckled the safety belts of 4 or 5 passengers. Then he felt the airplane turning steeply, and he attempted to return to the cockpit. By the time he reached the radio compartment passageway between the passenger cabin and the cockpit he was forced to the floor by centrifugal force. The aircraft shuddered as though in a stall, and crashed. Witnesses on a nearby barge saw the aircraft approaching from a north-westerly direction at an altitude estimated to be 1,000 feet, descending without audible engine noise. It was observed to enter a gliding turn to the left which was continued for about one and one-half revolutions, until the airplane crashed into a marsh and burst into flames. A pilot and 17 passengers were killed.

The crew was performing a cargo flight from Raleigh to Miami and while reaching Melbourne, Florida, he was informed by ATC that Miami Airport was closed to traffic due to poor weather conditions. For same reason, the alternate airport West Palm Beach was closed and the crew was advised to divert to Key West or Tampa. Few minutes later, the captain informed ATC that he was short of fuel and started the approach to Miami in low visibility. During the last turn to join the approach path, the right engine failed due to fuel exhaustion. The aircraft stalled and crashed. Both crew members were injured while the aircraft was written off.

Enroute from New York to Raleigh, the crew contacted ATC and requested to divert to the nearest airport after the right engine lost power. The crew was rerouted to Harrington. On final approach, the aircraft was not properly aligned with the runway centreline and the captain decided to go around. The aircraft flew over the airport at low height and then hit tree tops before crashing in a wooded area. Two crew members were injured while the third occupant was killed.

Flight 42 departed Miami for New York City at 2122LT, September 6, 1945, with routine stops at Jacksonville and Savannah. Having obtained an instrument clearance from Airway Traffic Control to cruise at 5,000 feet to Raleigh, the flight departed Savannah at 0041, September 7, with Washington and Baltimore listed as alternates. At 0150 the flight transmitted a position report to the company station at Washington indicating that it had passed over Florence at 0144 at 5,000 feet. The flight was advised that Raleigh, its next scheduled stop, was reporting a 300 foot overcast. Since the weather at Raleigh was below authorized minimums, Flight 42 requested permission from the company dispatcher to proceed past Raleigh without landing. The station at Washington advised the flight at 0155 that it had been re-cleared to Washington with Baltimore as an alternate, but no acknowledgement of the message was received. At 0205, a radio transmission from Flight 42 was intercepted in which it was indicated that the pilot intended to return to Florence and that he desired clearance to lend at Florence Field. Because of the unusually severe radio interference, the entire message was not readable and no reason was apparent at that time for the pilot's decision to return to Florence. Several subsequent attempts by company, CAA and army stations in the vicinity to contact the flight were unsuccessful. While attempting to return to Florence the aircraft crashed at 0213 in a swampy, wooded area 6 miles ENE of Florence Army Air Filed. The wreckage was located at approximately 1040, September 7.

The crew was engaged in a night training exercise to Greensboro with an intermediate stop in Raleigh-Durham. The aircraft left Fayetteville-Pope AFB at the end of the evening and while cruising at an altitude of some 5,000 feet, the electrical system suffered technical problems while an auxiliary generator failed. The Pitot tube deicing system failed as well, so the parameters transmitted to the airspeed indicator were erroneous. In such situation, crew decided to return to Fayetteville and while flying across the last cloud layer, the crew did not realize his altitude was insufficient due to poor visibility. The aircraft hit a mountain slope and was totally wrecked some 14 km west of Sanford. Both crew members were killed.
Crew:
Theodore Cole 1.