Date & Time:
Nov 28, 1934 at 0445 LT
Type of aircraft:
Pitcairn PA-8 Mailwing
Operator:
Registration:
NC10750
Flight Phase:
Flight
Flight Type:
Postal (mail)
Survivors:
Yes
Site:
Plain, Valley
Schedule:
Chicago – Chattanooga – Atlanta
MSN:
161
YOM:
1930
Flight number:
EA007
Country:
United States of America
Region:
North America
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
0
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Flight southbound from Chicago to Atlanta. The pilot Robert Chew was slightly injured. Original load of mail 126 pounds. 60 pounds salvaged in charred condition and forwarded by train the same day from Scottsboro. No data as to any markings applied to salvaged mail. While cruising about at 3,000 feet with zero visibility in a thick fog in the mountainous sections of Tennessee and northern Alabama, the pilot Chew was forced to take to his parachute when his motor went dead from lack of fuel. Chew made a successful leap, landing in a pasture, the plane crashing about 100 yards away, bursting into flames as it struck the ground. Chew is a veteran pilot, having flown every mail route of Eastern Air since he entered the company's service in 1931. He has 5,700 hours of flying to his credit. Since the line inaugurated its mail service in 1928, only 980 pounds of mail has been lost out of 4,277,588 pounds carried.
Probable cause:
Engine failure in flight caused by a fuel exhaustion.
