A mid-air collision involving aircraft of United States registry, a Douglas DC-3, NC 18951, and a U. S. Army aircraft, Type C-53[1], No. 20116, occurred at an altitude of between 3500 and 3900 feet about 4¼ miles northeast of the Kansas City Range Station and 1—3/4 miles north of the "on" course of the northeast leg of the Kansas City Radio Range at approximately 11:49 a.m. (CWT)[2] on November 4, 1942. At the time of the accident NC 18951 was operating on a check flight in the vicinity of the Kansas City Municipal Airport as a part of the routine instrument flight instruction of Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc.[3] The C-53 was on a non-stop cross-country flight from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Wichita, Kansas, via Kansas City, in the service of the U. S. Army Air Forces.[4] The DC3 received major damage from the collision in the air and was demolished by the resultant crash landing in a group of small trees in the vicinity of Linden, Kansas. The C-53 received major damage as a result of the collision but succeeded-in landing at the Kansas City Municipal Airport without further damage. The DC3 captain sustained minor injuries. None of the 5 other persons involved was injured.
CONDUCT OF INVESTIGATION
The Kansas City Office of the Civil Aeronautics Board[5] received notification of the accident and the Board immediately initiated an investigation in accordance with the provisions of Section 702 (a)(2) of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended. Air safety investigators of the Board proceeded to the scene of the accident and arrived there shortly after noon on November 4, 1942. The wreckage of the DC3 was under guard.
