ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 333458
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| Date: | Wednesday 8 November 1961 |
| Time: | 21:24 |
| Type: |  Lockheed L-049E Constellation |
| Owner/operator: | Imperial Airlines |
| Registration: | N2737A |
| MSN: | 1976 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1946 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 32589 hours |
| Engine model: | Wright R-3350 (745C18BA3) Cyclone |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 77 / Occupants: 79 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 1,5 km S of Richmond International Airport (Byrd Field), VA (RIC) -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Baltimore/Washington Friendship International Airport, MD (BWI/KBWI) |
| Columbia Metropolitan Airport, SC (CAE/KCAE) | |
| Investigating agency: | CAB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 was scheduled to transport newly inducted members of the U.S. Army to Columbia, SC, for training. The Lockheed L-049 was to depart Columbia (CAE), enplane passengers at Newark, NJ (EWR), Wilkes Barre, PA, and Baltimore, MD (BWI), and transport them to Columbia.
The flight departed for Baltimore at 19:12, VFR at an altitude of 4,500 ft. The flight landed at Baltimore and 17 additional passengers were boarded.
The trainee flight engineer opened the Nos. 3 and 4 crossfeeds like he had done on previous occasions on the flight, in anticipation of a drop in fuel pressure. The Constellation departed at 20:30, climbing to 4500 feet.
En route, the no. 3 and 4 engines continued to run the no. 4 fuel tank dry. Suddenly, the airplane yawed to the right and the fuel pressure warning lights for engines 3 and 4 came on. Engine no.3 stopped and engine no.4 surging between 1,500 and 2,000 rpm.
They were unable to restart the engines, so the props were feathered and a diversion to Richmond was initiated.
As the flight approached the airport for an intended landing on runway 33, the captain (who was acting as co-pilot), without warning to the pilot-in-command, turned the aircraft to attempt a runway 02 landing and selected the gear down. When the landing gear didn't extend because of mismanagement of the hydraulic system under the existing conditions, a go-around was attempted with only the no. 1 and 2 engines operating. During the poorly executed go-around the no. 1 engine failed as a result of overboosting. In an attempt to reach runway 33 the aircraft crashed and burned half a mile to the left of the extended runway centerline and one mile short of the runway threshold.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The lack of command coordination and decision, lack of judgement, and lack of knowledge of the equipment resulting in loss of power in three engines creating an emergency situation which the crew could not handle."
Accident investigation:
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Sources:
Location
Images:
photo (c) CAB; Richmond International Airport (Byrd Field), VA (RIC); 08 November 1961
Revision history:
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