Adopted: February 21, 1942
File No. 1365-41REPORT OF THE CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD
of the
Investigation of an Accident Involving Aircraft in Scheduled Air Carrier Operation
Major damage was received by aircraft NC 25637, a Model 18-08 Lockheed, owned and operated by Continental Air Lines, Inc., in an accident which occurred about 11:23 a.m. April 23, 1941 at the Municipal Airport, El Paso, Texas. No injuries were sustained by any of the three occupants. These consisted of Captain Roger Folwell and Co-Pilot Harry D. Taneyhill, both of whom were properly certificated and appropriately rated, and one passenger, Mr. C. V. Warren.
The flight, designated by the carrier as Flight No. 3 of April 22, was actually operating as a special flight on the following day. It originated at Pueblo, Colorado, from which point it departed at 10:02 a.m. with El Paso, Texas as its destination. Three intermediate stops were scheduled at Las Vegas, Santa Fe and Albuquerque, respectively. The first two scheduled stops were passed up because of weather. The last stop, at Albuquerque, and the departure from there were uneventful. The flight arrived in the vicinity of the El Paso Airport at 11:23 a.m. and received the current local weather report which included unlimited ceiling and visibility with a wind from the southeast of 8 m.p.h.
The approach was started from the northwest end of the field and at a point about two miles away the aircraft was lined up with the northwest-southeast runway, approaching toward the southeast. The landing gear was extended and was checked visually by the flight crew and it was further noted that the usual hydraulic pressure of 600 pounds was indicated. Two green lights came on in the cockpit as an indication that the gear was fully extended. As the aircraft approached the runway, the flaps were extended to a 60-degree position and about 10 inches of manifold pressure was carried on each engine until the aircraft was over the end of the runway at which point the throttles were closed. The aircraft contacted the ground in a seemingly normal tail-high attitude a short distance after passing over the northwest end of the runway. Approximately 75 yards after the main wheels touched the ground the tail wheel made contact. The aircraft continued to roll ahead in a straight line until it was slightly more than half way down the runway, a distance of about 3000 feet, at which point its speed had been reduced to about 15 m.p.h. Then without warning the right landing gear suddenly retracted. The aircraft at once started to turn sharply to the right as the right wing tip and the tips of the right-hand propeller struck the ground. The turn developed into a groundloop and when the total amount of turn was almost 180 degrees, the left landing gear suddenly retracted allowing the propeller blades on that side also to strike the ground. The aircraft then slid for a short distance on the fuselage belly before coming to rest headed in a direction approximately opposite to that in which the approach had been made.
