Evening star., 1947-06-09
fSecond OF a series.l
By Miriom Ottenberu

Pains-taking investigations Of air.
| line crashes in the past few years
have resulted in changes in air
regulations, orders for special in-
| spection Of some planes and ground
ing of others as well as other meas
ures to reduce the accident rate.
| When CAB examiners, recon-
structing the fallen parts of plane
| to get at the cause of disaster. can
prove structural defect, all planes
lof that type are grounded. That
lis why the Consultations were
1 grounded after five crew members
were killed in crash at Reading
Pa. July II, 1916.
After the CAB determined that
the cause of the Eastern Air Lines
crash at Cheshire. Conn, on Janu-
ary 18, 1916, was an engine fire
caused by the failure of fuel line
| or fuel line connection, additional
fire prevention regulations were or
| dered.
Investigation Takes Months.
Before the CAB formally puts the
| finger of blame on any individual
or part of an airplane, months are
spent in investigation.
Short stated and facing further
appropriation cuts, the CAB calls
| in it's investigators from throughout
the country to center all its forces
on major disaster, for sometimes
speed is necessary. Souvenir hunt
ers may carry away vital parts,
witnesses may forget what they saw
and a structural defect may be un-
covered which calls for immediate
grounding and inspection of SINH
| lar planes.
On the other hand, plane may
fall in such snowy terrain that
months pass while investigators
wait for the snow to melt enough
to uncover the wfeckage. For ex-
ample, a United Air Lines DC-3
crashed on Elk Mountain, Wyo.
on January 81, 1916. The CABS
accident investigation report was
signed on January 6, 1947.
| The CAB reports take into con-
sideration everything that could
happen to a plane or its crew The
fight itself is described in detail
Weather conditions along the route
are analysed What the pilot said
to ground stations and what they
said to him is faithfully reported
| The angle of the plane when it
crashed and whether any structural
defects caused the creash is dis
cussed. Objects on the ground are
analyzed and this, too, Is reported
1945 Crashes Listed.
! The Star carried yesterday the
CAB findings on 1916 crashes. Fol-
lowing is the boards analysis of
l945 tragedies on scheduled air
liners:
| On January 9, l945, Pan Ameri-
cans M130 flying boat nose -dived
into the water during night land
ing at Port of Spain, Trinidad, kill
ing % of 30 occupants and injuring
the survivors. Probable cause: The
failure of the first officer, who was
plotting the plane, to realize his
proximity to the water and to
correct the planes angle for land
ing: the failure of the first officer
to wear his glasses as required by
his pilot certificate and the failure
of the planes captain to give ade-
quate supervisors to the landing.
| On January 10, 1945, an American
Airlines DC-3 crashed against a
bank of hills after a night-instru-
ment approach to the Burbank air
port, killing all 81 passengers and
the three crew members. Probable
cause: The pilots attempt to use
standard "missed-approach' proce-
dure after having followed another
course up to point where 1t was
impossible to apply the missed
approach" procedure safely
The possibility of an accident