Testimony by PCA personnel indicated that the station policy at Pittsburgh had been to retain copies of the flight plan and flight release only until midnight of the day in which the flight originated which was contrary to the Civil Air Regulations.[1] The flight release duplicate of trip 142 was discarded after the flight, and inasmuch as the original was destroyed in the crash, no record was available for investigation other than the Washington dispatcher's authorization for the flight.
The record indicates that Jones had held the status of Captain with the company since November 1942 and that while he had only recently been assigned to the Pittsburgh-Birmingham route, of which Pittsburgh-Morgantown is one section, he had, nevertheless, qualified in accordance with the route competency provisions of the Civil Air Regulations and had flown some regular trips as Captain. unreadable had served on this route as First officer for approximately 11 months.
- ↑ CAR 61.7103 Clearance and preparation. A clearance form shall be properly prepared for each flight between specific clearance points. Such form shall be signed by the first pilot and by the authorized aircraft dispatcher or, by only authorized station personnel of the air carrier after receiving current authority from the authorized aircraft dispatcher, only when the first pilot and the dispatcher both believe the flight may be made with safety. A loud manifest fore shall be properly prepared and signed for such flight by the personnel of the air carrier who are charged with the duty of supervising the loading of the aircraft and the preparation of the load manifest forms. The aircraft when loaded as shown on the load manifest form shall not exceed the center of gravity limits or maximum allowable weight limits set forth in the aircraft certificate for the particular aircraft. THe original copies of both forms shall be given to the first pilot and duplicate/copies shall unreadable the station file for a period of at least 30 days.
