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weather reports issued by the United States Weather Bureau for various points along the route. The weather for the New York-Washington area permitted contact flight. Weather condition in the Washington-Atlanta area indicated that the flight would encounter a general lowering of ceilings as it progressed southward. The terminal forecast issued by the company's meteorologist at Atlanta indicated the conditions at Atlanta to be "... overcast, occasional light rain and light fog, ceilings becoming 200 to 500" after 9:00 p.m. (CST). The airway weather report for Atlanta at 7:35 p.m. (CST) was "contact, ceiling 1,100 feet, overcast, visibility six miles, light rain, temperature 42, dew point 38, wind east 12, barometer 30.03". These reports indicated the weather was at this time above the required minimums for landing down through but that an instrument approach would be necessary on arrival at Atlanta. All subsequent weather broadcasts were available to the trip en route.
In the flight plan Charlotte, North Carolina, was designated as an alternate terminal on this trip in accordance with company procedure. The weather at this point at the time of departure from New York was above the minimum required by the company operations manual for an alternate airport and was expected to remain, and did remain, above these minimums until after the flight was scheduled to arrive at Atlanta.
Captain Perry's flight plan called for a cruising altitude of 4000 feet with estimated flight times of one hour and twenty-six minutes from New York to Washington and of three hours and thirty-two minutes from Washington to Atlanta. The flight proceeded from LaGuardia Field to the Washington-Hoover Airport, Washington, D. C., in a routine manner.
On the basis of current weather reports along the route to be flown, the company flight dispatcher in charge at Atlanta issued authority to
