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the last station service check on November 11, 1965, was 61:55 hours. The aircraft was properly maintained in accordance with FAA approved company maintenance procedures and there was no evidence of any malfunctions or irregularities in either the systems or the maintenance thereof that could have contributed in any way to the accident. The aircraft was equipped with four Pratt & Whitney JT3D engines.
N6218C, a Lockheed Constellation 1049C, serial number 4526, was owned by Eastern Air Lines, Inc., 10 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York. The aircraft had a total airframe time of 32,883.76 hours, of which 7 hours had been accumulated since the last major inspection. This was a phase check conducted on December 3, 1965. The aircraft was equipped with Curtiss-Wright 972-TC-18-DA 3/4 engines and Hamilton Standard model 34E60 propellers.
N6218C had one altimeter installed which did not meet Technical Standard order (TSO) requirements nor was it of the type on the accepted list for certification. Examination of the instrument (S/N 19723), subsequent to the accident indicated it had been modified in compliance with Kollsman Service Bulletin No. 9. This instrument when modified in accordance with this service bulletin should have been capable of meeting the performance requirements of TSO C10A.
1.7 Meteorological Information
At the time of the accident, U. S. Weather Bureau surface weather charts indicated the northeastern section of the country was in a post frontal zone with a frontal system extending into the Atlantic Ocean from a low pressure area centered 100 to 150 miles off the Massachusetts coast. A general northwesterly flow of air was shown from the upper Great Lakes and New England region to the Carolinas.
The 1540 White Plains, New York[1] surface weather observation was in part: 4,000 feet scattered clouds, 8,000 feet broken clouds, 12 miles visibility, temperature 46°F, dewpoint 35°F, wind from 300 degrees at 7 knots.
U. S. Weather Bureau forecasts for the area which included the Carmel VORTAC, and valid at the time of the accident, called for variable cloud conditions with cloud tops near 8,000 feet and isolated tops to 13,000 feet.
Radar weather observations were taken approximately 30 minutes before and after the accident. The observation taken before the accident, at 1545, showed broad areas of scattered showers with the tops of detectable moisture 10,000 to 15,000 feet. The observation taken after the accident, at 1645, showed an area of broken light rain showers with the tops of detectable moisture 8,000 to 12,000 feet south of the New York area, and 12,000 to 16,000 feet north of New York with snow showers in the northwest portion of the observed area.
The pilot of a corporate aircraft en route from Syracuse, New York to John F. Kennedy stated that he climbed through multi-layered clouds after his departure from Syracuse, and was on top of an overcast at 15,000 feet, approximately 25
- ↑ The nearest official surface weather observations to the scene of the accident were made at White Plains, New York, which is located approximately 14 nautical miles southwest of the Carmel VORTAC.
