The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1951-04-28
NAVY COURT OF
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ban transport, a DC-4, had been
cleared over the island at 1000
feet. There was, however, no
contact between It and the Key
West radio and no previous mott
fication of local CAA authorities
that the flight was coming
through.
This, said Har cock, was stand
ard procedure Except in case OF
the aircraft's inbaility to raise
either Miami or Havana, it would
not cu8tomarily communicate
with Key West radio.
Key West, he said, is a COM
pulsory reporting point for trans
port aircraft. The Inflated liner
never contacted Miami, a it was
scheduled to do after crossing
The Key West radio range.
Another witness told how he
had authorized 1t 0g) Robert
Stuart to take over 1t. Hawkins
flight on Wednesday morning.
The witness. Commander Doug
las Clark, flight training officer
of FawTuLant, also said that he
had attended a conference in
Miami few months ago at which
representatives of military and
civilian aviation had discussed
flight traffic problems. It was
brought out at that time that
some commercial aircraft were
routed through the Key West
warning area.
AT that time, Clark gave a de
scrlptlon of the training opera
tons being conducted here. The
chairman of the meeting had
asked him whether commercial
planes routed at 5000 feet would
clear local military craft opera
tons. Clark said that he had re-
piled affirmatively, except for
jets and occasional oxygen flights.
Commander Clark told the
court that the students aboard
the SNB that crashed were on
their second and third radio
range training flights. He de-
scribed the pattern that they
were scheduled to follow.
1t included practice in the basic
patterns for instrument flying
and was to conclude with radio
range orientation. Under normal
conditions, the plane would not
contact the Key West radio while
making this orientation under
visual conditions.
The pilot, said Commander
Clark, was not told at what alti-
tud e to conduct these operations.
Yesterday afternoon, Com
mander Spencer Wright, opera
tons officer of FawTuLant told
the court that he knew of no con-
ditions that would cause a mid
alri explosion in an SNB-5.
ut is inconceivable to me-" he
said, that this type of aircraft
would simply explode in midair.
The gas tanks are cupboard on
the wings and there are no open
gasoline lines after the takeoff.
q can only visualize the pilots
making a turn to port and having
something attract his attention,
and thus miss the other aircraft. ="
He also conjectured that one
of the students may have been
making a turn that was sleeper
than the operation called for, and
that the instructor had let him go
ahead with it simply to show
him his mistake With the wing
at sharper angle, the oncoming
airplane might have been OBJ
scurred, he said
Commander Wright had with
him the log books of the three
flyers. 1t Stuart had 1894
hours, and held a standard in
strument rating. Ensign Eugene
Bardsley had logged 368.3 hours
and was not qualified in SNB
type craft.
Midshipman Francis Ready had
logged $40 hours, and only 27.3
in an SNB.
Commander Wright explained
the use of amber glass over all
but two of the side panels of the
trainers cockpit. He said that
this glass was standard equip
ment in training operations Of
this type and had been in use at
the time of the crash Wednesday.