Mohawk Airlines Flight 40
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (July 2013) |
Washington D.C. | |
| Occupants | 34 |
|---|---|
| Passengers | 30 |
| Crew | 4 |
| Fatalities | 34 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 was a scheduled passenger flight between
Aircraft and crew
This particular
The captain was 43-year-old Charles E. Bullock, who had logged 13,875 flight hours, including 603 hours on the BAC 1-11. The first officer was 33-year-old Troy E. Rudesill, who had 4,814 flight hours, with 667 of them on the BAC 1-11.[2]
History of flight
The aircraft, a
The plane gouged a strip through the woods about 100 yards (300 ft; 91 m) wide and 500 yards (1,500 ft; 460 m) long. The tail section was thrown 400 yards (1,200 ft; 370 m) from the impact site of the crash. Some of the witnesses were workmen at a coal strip mine who immediately took a bulldozer and plowed two roads through to the site a mile and a half away.[3]
Shortly after the incident, Robert E. Peach, president of Mohawk, demanded an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a telegram to J. Edgar Hoover, director of the F.B.I., Mr. Peach wrote: "Evidence has developed in the course of notification of next of kin of crash victims which leads to strong suggestion of sabotage. Mohawk Airlines formally demands that the F.B.I. investigate the possibility of sabotage." However, Mr. Peach did not make public the nature of the "evidence."[4]
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board launched a full investigation. The findings of that investigation are as follows:
A non-return valve in the auxiliary power unit had suffered a complete failure. This allowed bleed air from the engine to flow through the system in the wrong direction. This air exited at the start of the system at sufficient temperatures to ignite components there. The fire quickly spread to the hydraulics in the aircraft, and moved along the hydraulic lines to the rear of the plane. There, it caused heavy damage to the tail, causing a loss of pitch control which sent the airplane diving into the ground.[2]
Aftermath
In July 1967, the National Transportation Safety Board made three safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration, which issued Airworthiness Directive 68-01-01 to prevent heat damage or fire in the airframe plenum of the auxiliary power unit installation. [5] On 23 June 2017, a memorial was erected to honor the victims.[6]
Notes
- Aviation Safety Network
- ^ a b c d e "Mohawk Airlines, Inc., BAC 1-11, N1116J, Near Blossburg, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1967" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-01-26. Retrieved 2022-06-24.
- Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.
- ^ "Jet crash kills 34 in Pennsylvania; President of Mohawk Line Suggests Plane Going to Capital Was Sabotaged; Crash in Pennsylvania Kills All 34 on Mohawk Jet". The New York Times. 24 June 1967. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- ^ "Amendment 39-5956; AD 68-01-01 R1, Airworthiness Directive; British Aerospace Model BAC 1-11 200 and 400 Series". rgl.faa.gov. Federal Aviation Administration. July 18, 1988. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
- Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
References
- Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
- National Transportation Safety Board Summary
- National Transportation Safety Board Aircraft Accident Report - April 18, 1968