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- The captain and first officer were physically qualified and properly certificated to perform their duties on the subject flight.
- The trip was being operated in scheduled air carrier service between New York, N. Y. and Foynes, Eire, with a scheduled stop at Botwood, en route.
- The weather was favorable for the flight and had no bearing on the accident.
- There was evidence that although the captain had intended to take off with the flaps fully retracted, the flaps were set in operation from the "off" position to the full 35° down position in some undetermined manner at the start of the take-off.
- Testimony of First Officer Lindsay indicated that he was not familiar with the details of the flap switch operation and that his pre-flight cockpit check was made hurriedly at the start of the take-off run.
- There was no evidence of failure or malfunctioning of any part of the aircraft prior to the accident.
- The flap control switch had been equipped with a safety stop to prevent an inadvertent application of 35° flaps, but the evidence indicates that this safety stop had been broken or removed somewhere previous to the subject flight.
| PROBABLE CAUSE: | Inadvertent actuation of the wing flaps to the full 35° "down" position during the take-off run, thereby rendering the aircraft excessively nose-heavy and uncontrollable. |
| CONTRIBUTING FACTOR: | Absence of the required stop-spring on the flap control switch which was for the sole purpose of preventing inadvertent application of the 35° flap. |
