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According to the testimony of DioGuardi, immediately after breaking out of the overcast, Captain Scott gave the command, "Flaps down"; however before DioGuardi could execute this order, the Captain ordered, "Flaps up." When DioGuardi was questioned concerning this sudden change in the Captain's decision, he stated, "I believe he was sure he was a little bit too high for a ship landing on No. 1 runway." This was substantiated by the fact that the Captain immediately after ordering flaps up, applied sufficient power to the engines to maintain level flight. The airplane crossed the east end of the runway No. 1[1] diagonally from the south side to the north side of the runway and continued in a straight flight path across the airport. DioGuardi stated that he could see the Administration Building on his right as the airplane passed over the airport.
The two control tower operators on duty in the tower at the airport and four TWA employees who were standing on the ramp in front of the Administration Building stated that the airplane became visible to them a short distance east of the field and in the vicinity of the neon approach lights. The airport boundary lights and the obstruction lights were on and the visibility light located two miles south of the airport was observed by the control tower operators. As the airplane continued across the airport at an estimated speed of 110 to 120 m.p.h in level flight, it was observed that the landing gear was down and the flaps were in the "up" position.
The red (left wing), green (right wing) and white (tail) navigation lights were clearly visible but the airplane's landing
- ↑ See sketch of Lambert-St. Louis Airport on opposite page showing the probable flight path of airplane. (Figure A)
