CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD
AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT
SLICK AIRWAYS DIVISION
THE SLICK CORPORATION
DOUGLAS C-54B-DC, N384
CASTLE ISLAND
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
MARCH 10, 1964
SYNOPSIS
Slick Airways Flight 12, a Douglas C-54B-DC, N384, operating as a scheduled cargo flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, New York, to Logan International Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, with a stop at Bradley Field, Windsor Locks, Connecticut, crashed at 0821:35, March 10, 1964, while making an instrument approach to Runway 4R at Logan International Airport. The aircraft crashed in a lumberyard approximately 7,000 feet from the displaced threshold of Runway 4R and on the extended centerline of that runway.
Boston weather at the time was: scattered clouds at 400 feet, overcast at 700 feet, surface visibility 1-1/2 miles in moderate sleet and fog, wind 050° (true), 22 knots, gusts to 28 knots, temperature 32°, dewpoint 32°.
The captain, first officer, and freight handler, the only occupants, were killed. The aircraft was demolished by impact forces and the ensuing fire.
The Board determines the probable cause of this accident was loss of balancing forces on the horizontal surface of the aircraft's empennage, due to ice accretion, causing the aircraft to pitch nose down at an altitude too low to affect recovery.
Slick Airways, Flight 12, a C-54B-DC, N384, a scheduled cargo flight of March 10, 1964, crashed at 0821:35[1] in a lumberyard on Castle Island, while making an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to Runway 4R at Logan International Airport at Boston, Massachusetts, during inclement weather. Three crew members, the only occupants, were killed and the aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire.
Flight 12 originated at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, New York. It was scheduled between New York and Logan International Airport, with a stop at Bradley Field, Windsor Locks, Connecticut.
In preparing for the flight a representative[2] of Slick Airways, received a weather briefing by telephone from the U. S. Weather Bureau. This briefing included
