weather was at the minimum and that it "is OK if Jones wants to go in if he doesn't think it looks good, tell him to proceed on the Clarksburg." The captain acknowledged the message and replied that he would "take a look" and advise. Then at 1656, 15 minutes after take-off, the pilot was given the Morgantown weather and local traffic information. This was the last contact with the flight.
Beyond South Brownsville the aircraft encountered a continually lowering ceiling and proceeded at or through the irregular base of the cloud deck. Several witnesses observed the aircraft alternately in and out of the ragged overcast over a distance of approximately 20 miles and over the higher terrain wast of the regular course. At 1658 the aircraft crashed near the top of a ridge on the west side of Chest Mountain at an elevation of about 2100 feet and approximately seven miles east-northeast of the Morgantown Airport. When the airplane crashed it was seven miles off course and two miles off the airway.
Severed tree tops indicated that the plane was in a descent of about 330 feet per minute and was banked slightly to the right at the moment of impact. The aircraft continued through the trees and underbrush, its wings and engine nacelles disintegrating progressively. Its first contact with the ground occurred approximately 160 feet beyond the point of initial impact with the trees, following which the aircraft skidded up the sloping terrain for an additional 240 feet. It burst into flames which consumed most of the fuselage including the cabin and the pilots' compartment.
A search was initiated when it was determined what the aircraft was definitely overdue and after repeated attempts to contact it by rudle and failed. The wreckage was first sighted from the air about 1045 the following day.
- 4 -
