Date: | Thursday 1 January 1953 |
Time: | 11:00 |
Type: | Douglas DC-3D |
Owner/operator: | Aer Lingus |
Registration: | EI-ACF |
MSN: | 42957 |
Year of manufacture: | 1946 |
Total airframe hrs: | 10968 hours |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 25 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
Category: | Accident |
Location: | Spernall -
United Kingdom
|
Phase: | En route |
Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
Departure airport: | Dublin Airport (DUB/EIDW) |
Destination airport: | Birmingham International Airport (BHX/EGBB) |
Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:DC-3 EI-ACF "St Kieran" departed Dublin a 09:36 for a flight to Birmingham. At about 11:00 both engines quit, forcing the crew to carry out a forced landing.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The primary cause of the accident was loss of engine power due to fuel starvation. The Inquiry found that this was caused by selecting the port engine to the right main tank to which the starboard engine was also selected. The loss of engine power alone was the sole cause of the accident, which could have been avoided had the crew diagnosed the cause of the trouble and changed the fuel feed to another tank. The failure to diagnose fuel starvation was probably due to the circumstances, i.e. first the lack of co-ordinated effort by the captain and first officer after the engines out; second, the knowledge of the crew that ample fuel for the flight was on board and their belief that the engines were drawing from their respective main tanks. The actual forced landing of the aircraft in conditions of low cloud, poor forward visibility and unfavourable terrain was skillfully executed and resulted in the passengers escaping unharmed."
Sources:
ICAO Circular 38-AN/33 (134-137)
Tommy Hanley, Irish Aviator Images:
photo (c) RuthAS; Manchester Airport (MAN/EGCC); 1949; (CC:by)
Revision history:
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