Incident Overview

Date: Thursday 17 July 1958
Aircraft Type: Curtiss C-46A-60-CK Commando
Owner/operator: Dominicana de Aviacion
Registration Number: HI-16
Location: Ciudad Trujillo-General Andrews International Airport (SDQ) – ÿ Dominican Republic
Phase of Flight: Take off
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Component Affected: Port enginePort engine
Category: Accident
A cargo flight Flight 402 from Ciudad Trujillo, Runway 23, to Miami experienced a catastrophic crash. The aircraft crashed approximately 300 feet to the left of the runway centerline and 200-300 feet short of the runway end. The crash was caused by a mechanical defect in the port engine, specifically an attempt to initiate an emergency wheels-up landing after encountering difficulties. The crew applied an abnormal procedure, including applying full power to both engines, which resulted in propeller overspeed or excessive decrease in pitch, leading to the stall and subsequent crash.A cargo flight Flight 402 from Ciudad Trujillo, Runway 23, to Miami experienced a catastrophic crash. The aircraft crashed approximately 300 feet to the left of the runway centerline and 200-300 feet short of the runway end. The crash was caused by a mechanical defect in the port engine, specifically an attempt to initiate an emergency wheels-up landing after encountering difficulties. The crew applied an abnormal procedure, including applying full power to both engines, which resulted in propeller overspeed or excessive decrease in pitch, leading to the stall and subsequent crash.

Description

Flight 402 took off from Ciudad Trujillo runway 23 for a cargo flight to Miami. The Curtiss climbed to a height of 150 feet and entered a stall. The aircraft crashed about 300 feet to the left of the runway centerline and 200-300 feet short of the runway end. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The accident was originally caused by a mechanical defect in the port engine. The immediate cause may have been that the crew, encountering difficulties, applied an abnormal procedure, apparently attempting an emergency wheels-up landing and immediately thereafter trying to resume normal flight by applying full power to both engines, as there was no sign that either propeller had been feathered. It is likely that propeller overspeed or excessive decrease in pitch, or difficulties in the attempt to reoperate the defective engine, combined with critical speed at the height reached on takeoff, created abnormal flight characteristics which caused the aircraft to stall and crash.”

Primary Cause

Mechanical defect in the port engineMechanical defect in the port engine

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