Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1947-02-02


a lonely mountaintop, a microphon
Modern detectives" who are S
veteran pilots or communications
experts, fear not even congress
sional investigation as much as tc
overlook some secret fault that could
mean another disaster.
After every serious, unexplained
accident, Civil Aeronautics Board
investigators race souvenir hunters
to the scene to sift wreckage for
tell-tale clues and interview wit
nesses for a hearing and report with
one end in view-remedial action by
the board.
Last summer investigators, mi
nutely combing the burned wreckage
of a great airliner which crashed
near Reading, Pa, during test
run, found heat-corroded electrical
fittings-less than a handful. Had
they been damaged in the fire or
by a short-circuit in sealed bulk
head? If the latter was the case,
then every transport of the same
type might hide a similar threat OF
fire in the air.
Resulted in New Rules.
But scientists at the Bureau OF
Standards found the damage was
electrical. Upon these. tiny frag-
ments, the experts had to balance a
loss of millions by the manufacturer
and the operators at home and
abroad, and a possible recurrence OF
the tragedy. The answer was
temporary grounding order by the
Civil Aeronautics Administration,
which is charged with airworthi-
ness inspection, until the defect
could be remedied on all transports
of the type.
Out of this case grew new regula-
lions to ward off possible fire in the
air. They embraced all types OF
passenger transports with emphasis
on early warning systems, fire.
resistant hydraulic fluids, improved
automatic fire extinguishers and
separation of electrical and hydraulic
lines. -
The CABS Safety Bureau, now
spotlighted by two congressional IN
vestigations into air accidents, and
growing demand for an independent
safety board, is the most important
section of the CAB outside the field
Of economic regulation of the air
transport industry.
AS part of an independent agency
reporting directly to Congress, 1t CO.
operates with the cAA, which is
under the Commerce Department,
but makes separate findings to the
board which sometimes have been
critical of the CAA's operation OF
the Federal always, along with its
inspection and enforcement systems
There is considerable feeling on
Capitol Hill for a more clear-cut
separation in view of the difficulty
of "self-criticism."
Souvenir Hunters Menace.
The CAA, with thousands of en-
ployes in the field, as compared with
104 in the Safety Bureau, inves-
tigates minor accidents or those
whose cause Is known. CAA in
spectors also collect evidence in
serious crashes with relation to COM
munications, airworthiness of planes
and pilot qualifications. The CAA
can revoke pilot or aircraft Ger
tificates subject to review. by the
CAB when cases are appealed.
The Safety Bureau, from half a
dozen regional offices and head
quarters in Washington, dispatches
investigators to accident scenes by
the swiftest possible fneans-by air,
rail, bus, automobile, pack train or
on foot. They try to arrive before
local residents have sorted the debris
for keepsakes.
Although they reached the scene
of a mountain crash in Southwest
Virginia at dawn, few hours after
a Miami-bound airliner had disin-
tegrated in the trees few weeks
ago, unauthorized persons already
had seriously disturbed wreckage
flung about the grove. Only one
occupant, a passenger doing in his
seat, had escaped death.
Investigators, going over the sur
rounding terrain foot by foot, dis
covered twin rows of propeller cuts
| in soft earth on a level with the
crash point and some LOO feet dis
tant. .-....
| They made plaster casts Of the
indentations and were able to CAL
culate from them that both engines
were turning up normal cruising
revolutions on a level keel when
the transport, with landing wheels
Iretracted, skinned the gentle rise.
OF Course in Fog.
The pilot, who was of course and
flying through fog, it was said, ap-
parently never suspected his props
had touched ground. The course
of the plane indicated he was I'M
aware of the danger. Flaps and
landing gear were in normal fight
position, the wreckage revealed, as
were the control levers.
Instrument panels and propelers
sometimes lend circumstantial evil
dence from which an accurate pic
ture can be pieced together.
Switches usually remain in position,
and instruments like the altimeter
often freeze on the reading at in
slant of impact. Experience teaches
how various types of propellerS at