Capital Airlines Flight 20
| Capital Airlines Flight 20 | |
|---|---|
 Identical aircraft from Capital Airlines |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Loss of control |
| place | 11 km east-northeast of Charles City ( Virginia ) |
| date | January 18, 1960 |
| Fatalities | 50 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Vickers 745D Viscount |
| operator | Capital Airlines |
| Mark | N7462 |
| Departure airport | Washington National Airport |
| Destination airport | Norfolk Municipal Airport |
| Passengers | 46 |
| crew | 4th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
On January 18, 1960, a Vickers 745D Viscount crashed on Capital Airlines Flight 20 , a domestic scheduled flight from Washington, DC , to Norfolk , near Charles City , killing all 50 occupants.
Airplane and occupants
The Vickers Viscount with the aircraft registration number N7462 was delivered brand new to the American airline Capital Airlines on March 2, 1957 . The aircraft was equipped with four turboprop engines of the type Rolls-Royce Dart 510 equipped.
The crew consisted of the 50-year-old flight captain James Fornasero, the 36-year-old first officer Philip H. Cullom, Jr. and two flight attendants . There were 46 passengers on board.
course
Capital Airlines Flight 20 was a scheduled service from Chicago Midway Airport via Washington National Airport to Norfolk Municipal Airport . On the flight on January 18, 1960, an unscheduled replacement of the aircraft took place during a stopover in Washington. The take-off mass of the Vickers Viscount deployed on the section to Norfolk was within the permitted range.
The aircraft left the parking position at the terminal at 9:30 p.m. While the machine was taxiing to runway 36, the flight controller in the tower gave the crew the departure procedure to be followed . It called for a left turn after takeoff and overflight from Springfield, Virginia at 3,000 feet (1,000 m). The aircraft should then turn onto Victor 3 airway in the direction of the Brooke radio beacon (BEFORE Brooke) and climb to an altitude of 8,000 feet (2,440 meters).
The aircraft took off at 9:40 p.m. and the pilots switched to the departure control frequency. After the Vickers Viscount had flown over Springfield, the crew made contact with district control in Washington, which then instructed the aircraft to climb and hold an altitude of 8,000 feet. The Air Traffic Control issued a release about the airway Victor 3 to VOR Brooke, then the airway Victor 286 to Tappahannock and finally the airway Victor 213 to VOR Hopewell in the shared altitude of 8,000 feet to Norfolk to fly. The pilots reported reaching the VOR Brooke at around 21:53 and the expected overflight time from Tappahannock at 22:02. The radar support was terminated after reaching the Brooke beacon. At 10:01 p.m., while the aircraft was flying 8,000 feet over Tappahannock, the pilots reported that they would likely reach the VOR Hopewell at 10:12 p.m. Approximately four minutes later, the pilots received the following instruction: “Call Capital 20 cleared to ILS Outer Marker Norfolk via Tappahannock, Airway Victor 231, then via Radial 140 Hopewell to Deep Creek, directly to Outer Marker Norfolk at altitude 8000 m You Norfolk Radar on frequency 118.5 via Hopewell "( " Capital 20 cleared to the Norfolk ILS Outer Marker from over Tappahannock, Victor Airway 213 Hopewell, then via the Hopewell 140 degree radial to Deep Creek, direct to the Norfolk Outer Marker, to maintain 8,000 , contact Norfolk Radar on frequency 118.5 over Hopewell " ). The crew confirmed the instruction. This was the last radio contact with the pilots. The radio traffic gave no indication of difficulties. At 10:19 p.m., the plane hit eleven kilometers east-northeast of Charles City, Virginia , killing all 50 occupants.
root cause
A failure of all four engines due to icing was found to be the cause. This happened because the pilots turned on the engine ice protection system too late while the aircraft was flying through icing conditions. It is believed that two of the four engines failed at 8000 ft (2,440 m). The pilots probably decided to descend to a lower altitude in order to restart the engines. During the descent, the other two engines also failed and the propellers were automatically brought into the sail position. After the failure of all engines, the energy supply was ensured for a short time via the on- board battery . Investigations showed that the charge of the battery had dropped so far within one to a maximum of one and a half minutes that it was no longer sufficient to move the propeller blades out of the sail position. However, this was a prerequisite for restarting the engines.
Because it was not possible to bring the engines out of the sail position due to the loss of power supply, the pilots steered the aircraft into a nosedive in order to force the propellers out of position. Finally they managed to start engine number 4 (far right). When the pilots turned this engine to full thrust, the aircraft went into a spiral dive and hit a wooded area with almost no forward motion. The investigators assumed that shortly before the impact, the crew also managed to restart engine no. 3 (inside right).
Security Recommendations
As a result of this, Capital Airlines revised its emergency checklists, removed the item “ Descend to a warmer climate for relight” and informed the pilots that the engines would re-establish themselves at any altitude if the procedure was correct let start.
Similar cases
- An Antonov An-24 crashed under similar circumstances on Aeroflot flight 6515 .
swell
- Aircraft accident data and report N7462 on the Aviation Safety Network (English)
- Accident report on dotlibrary.specialcollection.net
- Report from the Civil Aeronautics Board
Coordinates: 37 ° 22'23.9 " N , 76 ° 56'56.1" W.