Continental Airlines

A Continental Air Lines Vickers-Armstrongs Viscount Model 812, N243V, was landed wheels-up, almost immediately following takeoff from the Amarillo Municipal Airport, Amarillo, Texas, on July 8, 1962, at approximately 0706LT. There were no serious injuries to any of the 13 passengers or 3 crew members. The aircraft was destroyed by fire. After normal lift-off and landing gear retraction, the captain was momentarily distracted by rainwater from the window channel falling on his left shirt sleeve and he inadvertently allowed the aircraft to settle until Nos. 2 and 3 propellers struck the runway. No. 4 engine and propeller were damaged by pieces of metal thrown from the No. 3 propeller. Increasingly severe vibration, a rapidly developing right wing heaviness, and sudden and excessive rise of exhaust gas temperatures of Nos. 2 and 3 engines dictated an immediate emergency landing. This was effected, wheels up, in a harvested wheat field approximately 6,930 feet beyond the end of runway 21 and in a direction 21 degrees to the right of its extended centerline.

On the night of May 22, 1962, a Continental Air Lines Boeing 707-124, N70775, operating as Flight 11 en route from O’Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois, to Kansas City, Missouri, was flying via Jet Route 26V at an altitude of 39,000 feet. A few minutes after Flight 11 had made a northerly deviation from course to circumnavigate a thunderstorm, in the vicinity of Centerville, Iowa, the radar image of the aircraft disappeared from the scope of the Waverly, Iowa, Flight Following Service. At approximately 2117 an explosion occurred in the right rear lavatory resulting in separation of the tail section from the fuselage. The aircraft broke up and the main part of the fuselage struck the ground about 6 miles north-northwest of Unionville, Missouri. All 37 passengers and crew of 8 sustained fatal injuries. The aircraft was totally destroyed.

At 0833 Trip 46 was cleared to Runway 10 for takeoff. At this time the aircraft carried 585 gallons of fuel and was loaded to a gross takeoff weight of 36,345 pounds which was 10,655 pounds less than the maximum allowable. The load was properly distributed so that the center of gravity of the aircraft was within the approved limits. A pre-takeoff check was conducted adjacent to Runway 10 at which time the propellers, engines and instruments gave normal Indications. A part of this check included moving the control column fore and aft and turning the wheel left and right in order to check the control system for freedom of movement and full travel. At 0838 the flight was cleared for takeoff which was made using normal takeoff power. Immediately after becoming airborne the crew noted a slight vibration which was attributed to an unbalanced condition of the spinning main landing gear wheels. Captain Persing applied brakes during the landing gear retraction to eliminate this vibration; however, it not only continued but rapidly increased in severity. The aircraft reached an altitude of approximately 75 feet, the highest attained, and was near the airport boundary when the vibration stopped with a sudden jolt and the aircraft assumed a nose-down attitude. The first officer immediately sensing the situation joined the captain and both exerted their entire strength applying back pressure to their respective control columns to keep the aircraft from plunging into the ground. The captain quickly reduced power; however, the nose-down pressure could not be completely overcome. The first officer used nose-up trim control in an effort to relieve the nose-down pressure; this action had no appreciable effect and during the last attempt the trim tab control wheel appeared to be stuck. The captain established a shallow left turn with the thought of returning to the airport and continued the turn about 45 degrees from the takeoff heading. As air speed decreased power was momentarily increased whereupon it became evident to the crew that using power sufficient to maintain flight resulted in an insurmountable nose-down pressure. The captain therefore decided to make a wheels-up landing straight ahead. Close to the ground the first officer closed the throttles and the captain pulled the electrical crash bar. Contact with the ground followed with the aircraft in a near-level attitude and at approximately 100 m.p.h. Although the passengers and crew received injuries of varying degrees, they were able to get out of the aircraft unassisted in an orderly manner. The evacuation was mainly through the rear service door (emergency exit) and was accomplished in about 30 seconds. There was no fire.