Date & Time:
Dec 30, 1945 at 2113 LT
Type of aircraft:
Douglas DC-3
Operator:
Registration:
NC18123
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Scheduled Revenue Flight
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Jacksonville – Savannah – Columbia – Raleigh – Richmond – Washington DC – Philadelphia – La Guardia
MSN:
1999
YOM:
1937
Flight number:
EA014
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
11
Pax fatalities:
1
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
1
Captain / Total hours on type:
4957
Copilot / Total hours on type:
215
Aircraft flight hours:
21348
Circumstances:
Following an uneventful flight from Philadelphia, the crew started the descent by night to La Guardia Airport in unfavorable weather conditions. A first attempt to land was aborted and during the second one, the aircraft was too high when it passed over the runway threshold. The captain reduced engine power and the initial contact with the runway occurred well down on runway at an airspeed considerably above the stalling speed of the aircraft. The aircraft bounded approximately 20 feet in the air and remained airborne for several hundred feet before again contacting the runway. After another shorter bounce, the aircraft remained on the runway and brakes were applied in an attempt to stop. However, due to the airspeed, which was still relatively high, and the snow and slush which covered the runway, little deceleration was accomplished. The aircraft continued off the end of the runway, demolished a small wooden building which housed the localizer transmitter, and came to rest in the Flushing Bay, approximately 200 feet beyond the field boundary. The aircraft was destroyed, 13 occupants were rescued while a passenger was drowned.
Probable cause:
The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the decision of the pilot in attempting a landing from an approach which was too high and too fast.
Final Report:
NC18123.pdf524.75 KB
