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It appears probable that the alrcraft's speed was reduced durlng the thunder— storm.act1v1ty; this would account for the tlme of the crash belng a few mlnutes after the alrcraft should have passed the v1c1n1ty. Being some 15 miles to one elde of the planned course may well have been an attempt to avoid the worst of the weather as indicated by airborne radar. There 15 no explanatlon as to why thls mucll dev1ation from the alrway was not reported; poss1bly 1t was because of stress of the olrcumstancee.
Pllot competence, as 1ndlcated by company and other records, appears to have been of hlgh qualaty. Both pllots were well experlenced generally and specificalhr on thls partlcular model aircraft
Thls and other seemlngly smmllar alr disasters have led the Board to 1n1t1ate a serles of conferences wlth other government agenc1es and wlth 1ndustry to better both the currency and accuracy of flash adv1sor1es (weather) and to 1mpress their importance on the flylng publlc. These conferences are now 1n the exploratory stage and are almed at the development of new procedures designed to assure the reception of severe weather bulletlns by those fllghts whlch could come Wlthln 1nfluence of the severe weather.
Probable Cause
The Board 15 unable to determlne the probable cause of thls acoldent. However, clrcumstances suggest control dlfflculty of an undetermined nature durlng passage through an actlve developlng llne of thunderstorms.
BY THE CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD:
/s/ WHITNEY GILLILLAND Ghalrman
/s/ CHAN GURNEY Vice Chairman
/s/ G. JOSEPH MINETTI Member
/s/ ALAN s. BOYD Member
/s/ J. s. BRAGDON Member
