Evening star., 1953-02-12
Those Transport Crashes
By w. H. Shippen

For the pilot and co-pilot
settling into their seats in the
big CHA GlobemaSter, it was a
little like looking out the bay
window of a four-story house.
They had climbed a 15-foot lad
der from the lower deck after
helping 10 other members of the
crew brief 104 servicemen on how
to fit parachute harnesses. fas-
ten seat belts and locate emer-
gency escape matches.
The experienced man in the
command seat on the left was
satisfied with the gross weight,
the load distribution, the me-
chanical condition of his air.
plane and the weather he could
see as he glanced out over Lar
son Air Force Base.
It was a little after daylight
on December 20, 1852. A light
snow IN the Moses Lake, Wash
ington. vicinity drifted down un-
der an 800-foot ceiling, limiting
visibility to about three miles.
No weather trouble was expected
at the first destination-San
Antonio, Tex.
Only the previous day the
double-decked Troop Carrier
Wing aircraft had been flight
checked for its present mission
Christmas lift for servicemen
en- route home for the holidays,
via Texas and points East.
Regular maintenance ground
checks had just been completed.
The ship was only partly
loaded, The 10000 pounds
then resting on the wheels was
well under the allowable 180, 900
pounds The plane was designed
to carry 200 fully-equipped
troops or up to $4,000 pounds
of cargo. 7
The Crucial Moment.
When the pilots at Moses
Lake cranked off their engines
they had $4,000 horse power
behind them. The crucial mo-
ment came when the big plane
wheeled away from its parking
place on the ramp.
At this point, the pilot and
co-pilot. running through their
check list are supposed to make
certain that the gust locks have
been released. These are the
locks which hold the ailerons.
rudder and elevators rigid so
that they cannot be damaged
by wind while the plane is on
the ground.
The lever releasing these locks
also releases the throttle for
take-off power when desired,
The device was designed as a
double safety check. In theory.
the pilot would not be able to
get take-off power until the
locks on the control surfaces had
been fully released.
1t was brought out later, how
ever, that the first downward
movement of the lever released
the throttles. If for some reason
the lever was not moved into the
full downward position, the pilot
could obtain full power and at
least partial control of the al
leronS and tail surfaces.
Pilot Can't See Lever.
The lever in question can nei-
ther be seen nor reached by the
first pilot. The co-pilot orders
another crew member to throw
the dual release while going over
the pre-takeoff check list with
the airplane commander.
Normal procedure for the first
pilot is to move his controls to
test their freedom of action after
hearing the order for release of
the gust locks. House members
were told the pilot could have
obtained at least partial move
ment of the controls despite the
fact the locks were not fully re-
leased.
The doomed CHA TAXED into
position with everything appar-
emily going according to the
book. The pilots revved up their
engines in a final pre-flight
check, then wheeled onto the
runway.
A few casual observers saw the
GlobemaSter surge forward un-
der normal takeotf power. The