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hydromatic, full-feathering propellers. The aircraft was currently certificated as airworthy to carry 21 passengers and 4 crew members at a standard weight of 24,546 pounds and a provisional weight of 25,346 pounds with de-icing equipment.[1]
The aircraft had been operated a total of 3,834 hours 22 minutes. Major overhauls were required by the air carrier operating certificate after every 650 hours of operation, but the airplane had been flown only 424 hours since its last major overhaul. The engines and propeller had likewise been operated considerably less than the specified overhaul periods. PCA records indicate that the airplane had been properly maintained. It thus appears from the evidence that the aircraft was in an airworthy condition when it was dispatched on March 2, 1942, for the flight to Detroit.
The evidence indicates that the aircraft and all its equipment functioned properly throughout the flight, and that it was loaded below the standard weight and within the prescribed center-of-gravity limits at the time of the accident.
- ↑ The "standard weight" of an airplane is the maximum allowable weight for landing, while the "provisional weight" is the maximum allowable weight for take-off. When an airplane takes off with a weight in excess of the designated standard weight, the weight of the airplane must be reduced by gasoline consumption prior to arrival at its next scheduled stop, to the extent necessary to bring it within the standard weight for landing. If sufficient gasoline has not been consumed between time of take-off and any landing, the gasoline can be dumped by the use of tested and approved dump valves in order to reduce the total weight to the approved weight for landing.
