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- The high tension lines and hills which surround the Charleston Municipal Airport are definite hazards[1] in case of a complete or partial power plant failure during a take-off toward the west or southwest in an air carrier airplane.
PROBABLE CAUSE:
Loss of power in the right engine due to causes unknown.
CONTRIBUTING FACTORS:
- Failure of PCA to establish adequate procedures to require its pilots to be familiar with the terrain surrounding airports, and failure of Captain Wright to familiarize himself adequately with the terrain surrounding the Charleston Municipal Airport.
- Failure of PCA to inform its pilots of the amount of power which could reasonably be taken from Pratt and Whitney Wasp S1H1-G engines under emergency conditions, and the consequent hesitancy of Captain Wright to exercise his emergency authority and use additional power soon enough to clear the ridge.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
As a result of the investigation of this accident the Civil Aeronautics Board recommends to the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics, unless appropriate action has already been taken:
- ↑ Where state public utility regulatory commissions are empowered to require public utilities to maintain safe facilities and to remove such as are unsafe, the elimination of hazardous power, telegraph or telephone lines obstructing airport approaches is made possible by action of these state agencies. The expense is borne by the public utility involved which is permitted to recover the cost through consumers' rates. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, pursuant to such a policy, recently accomplished the removal of telephone and telegraph lines from the airport approaches at four different airports of that state.
