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meteorologist, and this led him to believe that there was a possibility that the alternate airports might also close in. Dayton did not close in substantially earlier than forecasted by the United States Weather Bureau and the original alternates remained open until after the flight would have arrived, had the captain proceeded to the either one of them instead of landing at Dayton. Toledo, approximately 43 minutes away, remained open until after 5:00 a.m.
It appears that Captain Hortman was at fault in using his emergency authority and landing at Dayton after being advised that visibility at that point had decreased below the authorized minimums. At the time of being re-dispatched to Toledo Captain Hortman should have informed himself as to the weather at that point in order to have sufficient knowledge upon which to make a sound decision. He testified that while he believed he had requested Toledo weather, he did not recall receiving it. Records indicate that Toledo weather was radioed to the flight in code and that at least the pertinent part of the message was received by Flight 3. The crew apparently did not decode this information or make any attempt to secure information concerning the weather conditions at Toledo.
There appears to be no question but that the flight was properly dispatched from New York to Pittsburgh and from Pittsburgh to Dayton. When it became apparent to TWA's dispatcher at La Guardia Field that the visibility at the Dayton Airport had decreased below the minimums authorized, he immediately re-dispatched the flight to Toledo and in so doing provided Captain Hortman with an alternate airport at Detroit, should the visibility at Toledo fall below the minimums authorized. The fuel on board the aircraft at the time it left Pittsburgh was sufficient for the flight to proceed to any of its alternates, and remain well within the requirements of the Civil Air Regulations.
The United States Weather Bureau and TWA's forecasts proved to be reasonably accurate. Toledo and the alternate, Detroit, remained open almost two hours after the flight ended at Dayton.
