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Creek] it looked to me like we would either roll in it or to the edge of it, however, in my opinion it was so close I felt the switches had better be cut, and I immediately signaled Phillips to cut the switches, and he cut the single ignition switch and I cut the master switch. At no time after the ship was on the ground were the motors used and I think I have just taken me right up to the edge of the ditch now. From there on we just go in."
Captain Susott estimated that the airplane was travelling between 80 and 90 miles per hour at the time it contacted the ground in the landing and between 10 and 15 miles per hour when it rolled into the ditch.
First Officer Phillips and Flight Stewardess Arnestad corroborated the testimony of Captain Susott.
The chief control tower operator on duty at the airport, Mr. Straub, also testified as to the flight and landing of the airplane. He said, "At 2:42 p.m., the first instrument approach of Flight 9 was observed coming in over the east-southeast corner of the field and was headed in a generally northwesterly direction. It passed over the field, I would say roughly at about 300 feet, flying as it appeared to me, he was flying level, making no attempt at descent and disappeared northwest ... He was then observed to approach at 2:47 or just prior to 2:47 p.m. again over the east-northeast corner of the field which is east of the Curtiss-Wright building; I would say it appeared to be just about over the Coldwater Creek at that corner of the field and it seemed to me he was travelling in a southwesterly direction and I noticed the
