![]() GCA assisted Captain Bagus with alignment, elevation, and distance information and with all other information he asked for. This autopilot is not too easy to operate in this manner, so I'll come directly into one six." Have to make a pass or two to try and get my trim and power figured out on this thing. Am going to try dropping my gear pretty soon to see if I can maintain tail trim." Shortly thereafter he transmitted, "Four zero bravo, right, I'm coming straight-in. vector me for a turn now to get lined up for approach for 16. Captain Bagus requested a straight-in approach to runway 16 which is 13,500 feet in length. Radio communication was established between the flight and GCA and, about 1645, GCA had positive radar contact. The controller advised local traffic of the emergency and gave Trip 7002 complete latitude of action. He then requested ground-controlled approach (GCA) assistance and the tower controller immediately gave him the GCA frequency and advised him to switch to that facility. ![]() The pilot reported the flight was on emergency because of the loss of elevator control and would attempt to land at Dyess. Dyess promptly alerted the Base emergency facilities.Ībout 1638 the flight contacted Dyess Tower. The Abilene controller passed this information to the Dyess Tower and requested the flight to contact Dyess. He reported that he had lost elevator control and was on autopilot. The pilot stated he was about 30 miles east of Abilene, declaring an emergency, and returning to Dyess. Investigation showed the load was properly secured and distributed within the center of gravity limitations of the aircraft.Īt 1631 Trip 7002 contacted the Abilene, Texas, Municipal Tower. Computations indicated that at departure the gross takeoff weight of the aircraft was 44,128 pounds, well under the maximum allowable of 48,000 pounds. The weather conditions were: Scattered clouds at 4,000 and 15,000 feet with visibility of more than 15 miles. The flight plan specified that the flight would take about 45 minutes and would be made direct in accordance with visual flight rules. No maintenance was performed on the aircraft and no fueling was required.Īt 1611 Trip 7002 departed Dyess for Carswell AFB, the next scheduled stop. There 980 pounds of cargo were off-loaded and 370 pounds, destined for other bases were on-loaded. Flight 7002 originated at Kelly AFB at 1403 and proceeded without incident to Dyess AFB where it landed at 1515. Both pilots were currently certificated for the flight operation and both were experienced C-46 pilots. The assigned flight crew of Trip 7002 consisted of Captain William J. This inspection was performed by Associated Airmotive, Inc., San Antonio, Texas, an approved repair station which performed, under contract with AAXICO, all maintenance work relevant to the accident. Trip 7002 was the first flight for C-46, N 5140B following a No. 2 maintenance inspection. Pursuant to the contract, the carrier served numerous Air Force Bases on a regular schedule using 33 C-46F aircraft and flying several million miles annually. The inspection was performed by Associated Airmotive, Inc., a certificated repair station which performed under contract the maintenance work for AAXICO.ĪAXICO Trip 7002 of September 2, 1959, was operated as an air cargo flight incident to the carrier's logistical air support contract with the United States Air Force. The Board further concludes that the bolt worked out because it was improperly secured, a condition which should have been detected during a No. 2 maintenance inspection completed just prior to the origination of Trip 7002. It concludes that the bolt worked out following departure from Dyess AFB, resulting in the loss of control which caused the accident. This condition would render the elevator control inoperative.įrom irrefutable physical evidence the Board concludes that the bolt which normally secures the link assembly-clevis attachment was not in place at impact. ![]() The aircraft, a C-46F, N 5140B, was demolished.Įxamination of the longitudinal control system of the aircraft disclosed that the aft end of the aft link assembly was disconnected from the clevis in the elevator control horn assembly. The captain and copilot, the only persons aboard, were killed. The crash occurred while the pilots were attempting to land the aircraft with the elevator controls inoperative. At 1716, September 2, 1959, AAXICO LOGAIR Trip 7002 crashed on runway 16 at Dyess AFB, Abilene, Texas.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |