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shows that nothing unusual was discovered during the course of this inspection.
The airplane had been given the routine inspection to which it is subjected after every 60 hours of flight time on August 30, 1940. This inspection is much more detailed than the "turn-around" inspection and the record shows that nothing unusual was disclosed.
This model aircraft and its equipment had been approved by the Civil Aeronautics Authority for air carrier operation over routes flown by Pennsylvania-Central Airlines with an approved standard gross weight of 24,546 pounds. While the airplane had regular seats for 21 passengers and a crew of three, the company was authorized to carry an additional member of the crew, observer, or company employee in a jump seat located in the aisle directly behind the pilots' seats. The record shows that at the time of departure of Trip 19 from Washington, the gross weight of the airplane was 24,372 pounds, including mail, cargo, 460 gallons of fuel, 40 gallons of oil, 21 passengers[1], a crew of three, and a company employee riding in the jump seat. The location of the center of gravity of the airplane at the time of take off was 23% of the mean aerodynamic chord of the wings.
The Flight
Trip 19 was scheduled to leave Washington-Hoover Airport at 1:50 p.m. (EST) on August 31, 1940, and, in accordance with regular company procedure, was cleared by the company dispatcher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, prior to departure. The clearance was based on current sequence weather reports, United States Weather Bureau forecasts, and a trip forecast made by the company meteorologist. The pilot's flight plan stated that he would climb to an altitude of 6000 feet, cruise at 6000 feet over Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Frostburg, Maryland, and descend to 4000 feet over Scottsdale, Pennsylvania. The flight was cleared to cruise at 6000 feet by the Airway Traffic Control Center at Washington. Instructions as to the approach and landing at Pittsburgh were to
- ↑ List of passengers is shown in Appendix A.
