Accident Douglas DC-3-178 NC16008,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 340653
 

Date:Friday 15 October 1943
Time:23:17
Type:Silhouette image of generic DC3 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Douglas DC-3-178
Owner/operator:American Airlines
Registration: NC16008
MSN: 1588
Year of manufacture:1936
Total airframe hrs:17774 hours
Engine model:Wright R-1820-G102
Fatalities:Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11
Aircraft damage: Destroyed, written off
Category:Accident
Location:near Centerville, TN -   United States of America
Phase: En route
Nature:Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:Nashville Metropolitan Airport, TN (BNA/KBNA)
Destination airport:Memphis Municipal Airport, TN (MEM/KMEM)
Investigating agency: CAB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
American Airlines Flight 63 originated at Cleveland at 17:56, 17 minutes later than the scheduled departure. Intermediate stops were made at Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, and at Louisville. Accumulated delay at the time of departure from Nashville amounted to one hour and 38 minutes. The DC-3, named "Flagship Missouri", climbed to 6000 feet and the pilot reported cruising at this level at 22:59. At 23:06 the flight called Nashville and requested permission to climb to 8000 feet, which was approved. However altitude was lost until the DC-3 descended into the thickly wooded southern slope of a hill which rose to a height of about 75 feet.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "Inability of the aircraft to gain or maintain altitude due to carburetor ice or propeller ice or wing ice of some combination of these icing conditions while over terrain and in weather unsuitable for an emergency landing. CONTRIBUTING FACTOR: Weather conditions which, had their nature been anticipated, should have precluded the dispatch of the flight in an aircraft no equipped with wind or propeller deicing equipment."

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: CAB
Report number: File No.4889-43
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 3 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

CAB File No. 4889-43

Revision history:

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