Aviation Accident Report: Pennsylvania Central Airlines Flight 19/Conduct of Investigation

I.

CONDUCT OF INVESTIGATION

 

An accident involving aircraft NC 21789, while operating in scheduled air carrier service as Trip 19 of Pennsylvania Central Airlines Corporation, occurred in the vicinity of Lovettsville, Virginia, on August 31, 1940, at approximately 2:41 p.m. (EST), resulting in the destruction of the airplane and fatal injuries to everyone on board. The accident was reported to the dispatch office of Pennsylvania Central Airlines in Pittsburgh at about 4:55 p.m. by a resident of Lovettsville, which report was relayed to the personnel of the Civil Aeronautics Board at 5:45 p.m. (EST).

Inspection and Preservation of Wreckage

Immediately after receiving this notification, the Board initiated an investigation of the accident in accordance with the provisions of section 702(a)(2) of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended. Accident investigators of the Board arrived at the scene of the accident at about 7:30 p.m. and immediately took charge of the wreckage and secured the services of the Virginia State Police and the office of the Sheriff of Loudoun County, Virginia, to assist in guarding it. These investigators, who remained on duty throughout the night, were joined the following morning by additional investigators and the inspection of the wreckage was continued.

After a preliminary examination of the engines, propellers, and radio equipment, it was decided that disassembly of these parts would be necessary in order to make a complete inspection. Since it was practicable to disassemble and inspect these parts only at a shop especially equipped for handling this type of equipment, Pennsylvania Central Airlines was directed to remove the parts to its overhaul shop at Pittsburgh which offered the nearest facilities available for the purpose. The parts were removed from the scene of the accident and transported in a Pennsylvania Central Airlines truck at the direction of the Chief of the Investigation Division of the Board.^[1]

The Chief of the Investigation Division of the Board authorized the starting of the disassembly of these parts under the supervision of a maintenance inspector of the Civil Aeronautics Administration since the Board's power plant technician had been delayed in arriving in Pittsburgh from Dayton, Ohio. The power section of the right engine had been partially loosened before the arrival of the Board's technician. He then supervised the complete disassembly and inspection of all parts. Subsequent to this inspection, the propeller and parts of the engines were shipped to the National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C., for further inspection and study.

Since the remaining parts of the airplane wreckage were strewn over a large area, it was necessary, after the position and condition of the various parts had been established, to pick them up and place them in one group in order that they might be effectively guarded. This wreckage was guarded by the Virginia State Police and deputy sheriffs for a period of ten days, and then removed to the Washington-Hoover Airport, where it now remains in the custody of the Board.

Public Hearing and Subsequent Investigation

In connection with the investigation of the accident, a public hearing was held in Washington, D. C., on September 6, 1940, through September 13, 1940. Fred M. Glass, Attorney of the Board, presided as hearing examiner, and in addition to the Members of the Board, the following personnel of the Safety Bureau of the Board participated: Jerome Lederer, Director; R. D. Hoyt, Assistant Director; Frank E. Caldwell, Chief, Investigation Division; and Paul E. Gillespie, Chief, Investigation Section. At the hearing all of the evidence available to the Board at that time was presented. One hundred and thirty-four exhibits were introduced and eighty-five witnesses testified, including witnesses from the vicinity of the crash and experts in various technical subjects involved in the investigation.

While the Members of the Board, the Examiner, and the representatives of the Safety Bureau were the only ones designated to ask questions directly of any witnesses, the presiding examiner, acting under instruction of the Board, announced at the opening of the hearing that any person who had any evidence, questions, or suggestions to present for consideration in the proceeding might submit them to the Examiner. A number of such questions and suggestions were submitted, and at the close of the hearing the Examiner announced that every question submitted had been asked unless the subject matter of the question had previously been covered by the testimony. In the course of the investigation, many suggestions have been submitted to the Board orally or in writing, and all have been carefully considered.

Since the conclusion of the hearing, the Board and its staff have continued the investigation. Reports have been sought and received from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the Bureau of Standards, the Army Air Corps, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on technical questions arising out of the investigation, and additional witness statements have been secured. Most of the witnesses from whom such statements have been obtained had testified at the public hearing, but a consideration of their testimony indicated the necessity for securing more detailed and specific information from them. In addition, other witnesses who had not been discovered by the Board's investigators during the limited time between the accident and the public hearing were able to give statements pertinent to the issues involved in the investigation. The testimony contained in these technical reports and supplemental witness statements will be discussed later in this report.

Upon the basis of all the evidence available to it at this time, the Board herewith makes its report in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended.

1. The engines and other parts were examined at the scene of the accident prior to the departure of the truck for Pittsburgh. Inspection subsequent to arrival and the evidence obtained at the time of disassembly showed the engines and other parts to be in the same condition as when examined at the scene of the accident.