Date & Time:
Mar 6, 1934
Type of aircraft:
Fairchild Pilgrim 100A
Operator:
Registration:
NC710Y
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
No
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Saint Louis – Chicago
MSN:
6606
YOM:
1931
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
1
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
3
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
En route from St Louis to Chicago, while cruising at night, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions with snow falls and icing. He informed his operations that the visibility was about a 1/8 of mile and elected to divert to Springfield Airport for an emergency landing. Shortly later, while flying at a height of about 500 feet, the engine seems to quit then the airplane lost altitude and crashed in a snow covered field. All four occupants were killed, among them the pilot Walter Hallgreen, one of the most experienced pilot in the company.
Probable cause:
Loss of control caused by an excessive accumulation of ice on wings surface and fuselage.
