Adopted: September 14, 1942
File No. 416-42
REPORT OF THE CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD
of the
Investigation of an Accident Involving Aircraft in Air
Carrier Operation
An airline accident, which resulted in destruction of the left engine of Douglas DC-2, NC 13726, and minor damage to the airplane, owned and operated by Transcontinental & Western Air, Inc., occurred on March 2, 1942, at about 10:58 a.m. (EMT) near Allentown, Pennsylvania. The plane was powered with two Wright Cyclone GR-1820F-3A engines. No injuries were sustained by the two passengers or the crew of three.
The crew consisted of Captain Kalman J. Irwin, holder of an airline transport certificate with a single- and multi-engine land 150-4900 h.p. rating; First Officer Jack S. Gandy, who held a commercial certificate and an instrument rating; and Stewardess Wilma Jean Wilson. Both pilots were properly certificated for the flight in question.
The flight, designated by TWA as Flight 58, originated at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with New York, New York as its destination. Intermediate stops were scheduled at Harrisburg and Reading, Pennsylvania, and Newark, New Jersey. The first two legs of the trip were completed under normal conditions with First Officer Gandy flying the plane from the left side as part of his familiarization training.
Flight 58 departed from Reading at about 10:57 a.m. At approximately 10:58 a.m. (EST), while the flight was cruising at about 5000 feet, about 3 miles east of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, a a loud noise was heard and the left propeller control snapped forward. There was no warning, either from roughness or from the engine instruments. Quick inspection revealed that the propeller and nose section were gone from the left engine and that this engine had ceased functioning.
LaGuardia Field, New York, was immediately notified that the flight was returning to Allentown, Pennsylvania, and the radio frequency was changed to work the Allentown range station for altimeter setting, wind direction and velocity. The engine controls were adjusted for single-engine operation and the flight turned back, landing at Allentown at 11:06 a.m.
The propeller and nose section were found about 5 miles east of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and were taken to the Allentown Airport on March 2. The powerplant specialist from the Safety Bureau of the Civil Aeronautics Board was sent to the Allentown Airport where a preliminary investigation was conducted. This engine and the propeller, together with samples of oil and fuel, were shipped to the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D. C. for inspection and analysis. The total operating time of the left engine prior to the accident was approximately 9,259 hours with about 544 hours having been put in since the last major overhaul.
