Page:CAB Accident Report, TWA Flight 891.pdf/28

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which are indicative, at least for engines 1 and h, of a climbing speed.

Governor No. 2 was destroyed by the fire on the ground.

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The careful exanunation of the 1; engines made, after a checking of their respective operational records, which involved

partial disassembling or stripping of the more Significant parts for the purpose of looking for evidence of breakdowns, failures, or fire while the plane was still in the air, disclosed the following:

Engg‘ es Nos. 1, 3 and )4: No breakdowns, failures or fire while t a plane was still fit the air.

En ' e No. 2: No signs of breakdowns or failure in flight; because of the severe damage suffered by the engine from fire after the crash, it was not posenble to ascertain whether it had caught fire in the air. Hanover, an examination of all the parts and the pertinent areas of the left wing failed to bring to light any pmsical evidence that it had.

Exmnation of the structures


Eight wing {from the mpgtip to the naceIL'Le of engine No. 3)

The right wing, complete with its cowlings, part of the landing gear, flaps, and aileron, broke up in flight, with an upward motion, near nacelle No. 3 and fell to the ground in flames, near the town of Mamate.

It struck the ground with the part where the breakage had occurred, namely part of the landing gear, and suffered severe damage, especially in that area. Further damage was caused by the fire, which continued for a short time to burn both the cinema and the inside of the wing, after it had struck the ground.

The wing was meticulously inspected in order to determine whether some of the damage caused by fire had taken place before it became separated from the plane. It was decided that such was not the case. The exandnation of all the areas of breakage showed no evidence of breakages due to stress or metal fatigue.

The lower covering of the wing, outSide engine No. 4, was torn off, beginning from the tip, into long and narrow panels, some of which became detached from the Wing and fell separately to the ground.

The wing tip, with its counterweight, was found near the wing but detached from it because the couplings had broken; this