·- SEP 1 l93i"1 I i .... r Ssc~~etary of Co:-:r~~erce :Jeniel C. Roper today ~o.dc ;public the rej?ort of the t Director of Air Commerce cvncerning the aircraft accident near Uniontown, Penn- lJ r \ 1 sylvania on A.:.jril ? , · 1936. It is as follows: To the Secretary of Con~rrerce: On A~ril 7, 1£36, at approxtmately 10:20 a.m., at a point about three mile~ southeast of Fairchance, Pennsylvania, an airplane of United States registry, o'V\'!led and ope:rated by Trc.nscontinertal &-. ~'l~stern Air, Inc., and while being floW!. in scheduled interstate oreration carrying passengers, ~ail and express, met witl an accident re3ulting in fatal injuries to 12 of the 14 persons on board, inju­ ries to.the re~~ining two persons and the complete destruction of the aircraft. I Those fatally injured 't'Jere: t Donald D. A11gust, Grove City; Pa. Georee W. Reffer:1an, Bronx, N. Y. S. W. Bayersdo~fer, Steubenville, Ohio. Crawford T. Kelly, 1.IcKeesport; Pa. C. G. Challinor, Cleveland, Ohio. J"ohn O'Neill, Jersey City, N. J. c. R. D'.Arcy, New Yor}:, N. Y. Charles E. Smit~, New Kensington, Pa. Ro·oert Evans, Pi ttsburgb., Fa. Pilot Otto Ferg.1son, Kansas City, Mo. · Frank Eardirnan, J" er sey C:L ty, N. J" • Co-?ilot Harry C. Lewis, Kansas City,. Mo. Those injured were: 1~rs. !~!. C. Ellenstein, Nel·.rark; N. J. Hostess Nellie H. Granger, Dravosburg, Pa. The aircraft, a Douglas, model DC-2, had been inspected and approved by the Bureau of Air Commerce on June 2?, 1935, and bore Federal license number NC-13?21. It \'.ras being operated on April ? , 1936, by Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc., as the "SUn Racer", Flight No. 1, Newark, New Jersey, to los Angeles, California. · -) The pilot, Otto Ferguson, held a Federal transport pilot's license and a scheduled air transport rating. The report of his quarterly physical examina­ f tion taken on I.:erch 14, 1S36, shm·fed he was in good condition at that time .. t J He was assiened to the N"ewark-Y.ansas City ~ilot division of _TWA as being quali­ - r \., f"ied and authorized to operate scheduled flights over this--division, its alter­ . j nate routes and extension area. The co-pilot, Harr3 C. Lewis, held a Federal transport pilot's license and a scheduled air transport rating. His quarterly physieal examination, taken on January 11, 1936, showed that-ne was in good condition. He was assigned. to the Newark-Kansas City pilot.. divisi,n. The airplane left l~ewa:k .Aj.=rport at ?:54 a.m. and arrived at Central Air­ ~ort, C~den, N. J"., at ~:2? a.m. It was cleared f"r~m Camden on time at 8:35 a.m., and was scheduled to land at Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Airport at 10:23 a.m. 1453 8 . ·:.··---~-...;...-:- ~·· .........':..f~ .. ~·-·,..,__._, __ ................. _-6 ___ .. .,r_.......... -:.---~--~··--~ :... • .............,.~ -~~ ...... ...,.-.. ....·~-~~-...-~~.:.. .... : . _... _.. · ... ~. ........... -~ ·-=--·-~": :- ... - ...... .--··...... ~ . -·- -~:-... .. ·-.. ..._ ~·· ..... :~ -·- . ... •· ~ The. r.:.ount:iins let·~.c-::r. ~lQr:-..·~ s":>·.:r~ ~n l ?:. tt::.:l·~.:::"'~~ -: ·e:;:-e fol.. t!le r:!'Jst :pert obscured by clouds which tXtsnded to u. Db.Xi!ii1..\~ c.l t i t·,.H:e of 8 bout 15, 000 feet, and there v1e;.--e rain, slE.3t a."1d t;(lner;:\i icir,:::; con:li tions in this area. ~1est of :sllc!-:stown, P~.• , ~- soutt·:;, ·ste!'ljr v;ind of a !1ig:1 velocity v.-as reported blowing at 15,000 fe~ t alti tuue and tne effect of this wind r:c.s ev:dent to a decreas- . ing extent at lower altitudes. Vlhile these weather co:K~i tionB ".:'it.;Te -c0t considered }:g,za!'dous for this type of aircraft c;.eration, they did inaicQt..) tl1at on :!)art of the trip the flight would have to be :tnade j n C•r above the clouJ s, necessitating instrument flying. !} II Therefore, the pilot 11e.s £':"-tthori zed l~~l' his company to so "on instruments" at his discretion. Evidence snows thnt the plane entered the overcast when in the vicinity of Ear.risbur;.?,:, e.r.. d that ~,ilot l4'erguson continued "on instruments" to en undete:rwi~ed point ?Ji thin a)::;,ro:~.:i:.:.ately th3 last 2.0 I!liles of the flicht. Before :!.eaving Newa1·1~, Filet Ferr.u:Jon 11re:pared a flight plan which showed he intended flyin~ from c~~aen direct to Pittsburgh on a compass course; w~ich is the proce6.ure regularly f.QllorJed except v:hen weather conditions :prevent. fly~ ing by obse~vation of lanfrrrar~s. In this event, bot~ the operating ~~nual of T\vA a1"1d the DepartrJent of Co!lD."Jerce Rcculations Governing Scheduled Operation of Interstate Air Line Services r~quire that the course mast be altered so that the plane follows the rit;;ht h~J.d side of the Harrisburg radio range and the rir.~t hand side of the ~artheast leg of the Pittsbureh ~adio ranGe. Radio reports from the pl~:...ne and test:iJ::tony of ''Ji tnesses show the.t the course was not altere~ in accorda~ce with theze requirements, ~~d that after the :plene crossed t!le south leg o'! t:1e };arris-Dl~.rg radio range, and entered the overcast, the I>ilot c0!1tin~Je;1 to follow what he th·:>ught l'l:ls his original com­ p~ss course but which develo:r-Jt:r.ts show •ta.s a course deflected to the south of' f this compass course. (See t~a:p.) .-·. Proof that the :plane was not follo.... ~!ing the west leg of the Harrisburg : :·.:; : -~ radio range is given in Pilot Ferguson's radio r'3:port that he would cross the ... - . -.. south lee. of the Bellefonte, Pn., radio range at 9:21 a.m.~ south of the west leg of the Harrisburg reuio rar~a. This crossing was legged by the pilot at 9:30 a,m. and so :!"eported to t~e 'J:-.VA ground station at Cresson, Pa., at 9:31 a.m. This definitely places the :plane somewhere south of :rv·ount Union, Pa. ~~en at 9:49 a,m., the pilot reflorted croe.si~~ the north leg of the Bucksi;o~m, Pe.., radio range in the "A" twili8ht zone of the Pittsburgh radio . range, which placed him so~ewhere south of the northeast leg of the Pittsburgh range. A chance 1·:as made i~ the orieine.l 9:49 report as recorded by the 'IWA radio operator at Pittsburgh stating that the plane had crossed the north leg of the Bucksto~~ re~e on the northeast leg qf .the Pittsburgh radio ~ange •. At 9:50 a.m. emr->loyees of the De:pe.rtment of CoJ.ill!l.erce inten"'ledia~e land­ ing field at Eucksto't·m, whtch is two miles west and one mile north of the Buckstown radio range, heard a reulti-erigined airplane ~lying slightly south· of the field and in n westurly directio!l. The nost experienced of these wit­ nesses, who has been observing aircraft in thet area fer nearly seven years, gave sworn testinony that the :plane was not of the type used by Pennsylvania \ • ;"'... i Air Lines u.nd CGntral Air I.ines, "t-ihich operate between Pittsburgh and Washing- . --~·· ton and with which he declared hL-uself to be fa--:1iliar. This 'testimony satis­ f'actorily establishes t!:..at the plene ref'erred to by these witnesses was Flight 1, as all other aircraft h~10Wli to have been in the air and in that area with­ in the period concerned, have been othe~vise accounted for. .. · .... 1453 8 .~ - . · .. _-- -._::: .... oo:.• ... - .... ;. -3- Further ev1uence to st1pport the finding of ths Bu.re:1u of Air Corxmerce, that the plane was not on tl:e northeast leg of the Pittsburgh radio range, comes from the 10 o'clock report from the pilot, in ,_.,hich he e stirno.ted his position as over Ch~stnut Ridge. T~·-.is report shews that t.e v:as still bas­ ing his position estll1Qtes on thP- direct c~~den-?ittsburgh compass course and was not using tl·:.e northeast J.eg o:f the Pittsbur-gh radio range as a course. Otherwise, if he had 'beli~ved he v:ere on the northeast leg of the Pittsburgh range and had. flown from the point 1.·:here this leg crosses the north leg of the Bt1ckstown range to the point where it crosses C~estnut Ridge, only 15 miles in 11 minutes, he would have had t~ reduce his cruising speed from about 160 miles per hour to about 82 miles per hour. 'I')' During this 11-minute interval, another TNA plane, F.iight 21, bound non­ stop from Ne·:!ark to Pittsburgh and due to arrive there at about the same ti~e as Flight 1, had, according to the pilot's log, reported crossing the north - i leg of the B~cksto\Yn radio range on the northeast leg of the Pittsburgh radio _ range at 9:51 a.m., two minutes after Flir;ht 1 had reported crossing the north ·: . ~ leg of the Bi:.ckstown range. Flie-,ht 21 also wa·s a Do\~r.las J.:odel DC-2 and of the s~e general speed and performance as FJ.i~ht 1. At 10 a.m., Fli.;ht 21_ estima­ ted its position as over Blairsville, Pa., at the same t~e that Flight 1 re­ ported jts estLnated position as over Chestnut Ridge.