Date & Time:
Nov 4, 1942 at 1149 LT
Type of aircraft:
Douglas DC-3
Operator:
Registration:
NC18951
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Training
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Kansas City - Kansas City
MSN:
2015
YOM:
1937
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
6
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Captain / Total hours on type:
2888
Copilot / Total hours on type:
700
Circumstances:
A mid-air collision involving aircraft of United States registry, a Douglas DC3, NC18951, and a US Army aircraft, type C-53, registered 41-20116, occurred at an altitude of between 3,500 and 3,900 feet about 4 1/4 miles northeast of the Kansas City Range Station and 1 3/4 miles north of the on course of the northeast leg of the Kansas City Radio Range. At the time of the accident, NC18951 was operating on a check flight in the vicinity of the Kansas City Municipal Airport as a part of the routine instrument flight instruction of Transcontinental & Western Air. The C-53 was on a non-stop cross-country flight from Indianapolis to Wichita via Kansas City, in the service of the US Army Air Forces. The DC-3 received major damage from the collision in the air and was demolished by the resultant crash landing in a group of small trees in the vicinity of Linden, Kansas. The C-53 received major damage as a result of the collision but succeeded in landing at the Kansas City Municipal Airport without further damage. The DC-3 captain sustained minor injuries. None of the 5 other persons involved was injured.
Probable cause:
Error of judgment of the Kansas City Air Traffic Control operator in clearing the TWA DC-3 to climb into the overcast, within the limits of a civil airway, when he had knowledge of the expected arrival, in the immediate vicinity, of the Army C-53.
Final Report:
NC18951.pdf700.31 KB
