Incident Overview
Description
A Douglas DC-6B passenger plane was destroyed in an accident shortly after takeoff from Shannon Airport (SNN), Ireland. All 77 passengers and six crew members were killed. The DC-6 operated on a non-scheduled flight from Dsseldorf, Germany to Chicago, IL, USA with refueling stops at Shannon, Ireland and Gander, Canada. The flight took off from Shannon’s runway 24 for the night time transatlantic flight leg to Gander. The crew were cleared for a right-hand turn following takeoff. The plane, however, made a left-hand turn with a bank angle increasing to 90 degrees or more. The plane then fell into the River Shannon, 5000 feet from the runway end. PROBABLE CAUSE: “Failure of the captain to maintain control of the aircraft after becoming airborne due to either: 1) a defective artificial horizon; and/or 2) a fault in the right-hand aileron tabs. Contributory causes could have been unsuitable weather conditions and possible crew fatigue.”
Primary Cause
Failure of the captain to maintain control of the aircraft after becoming airborne due to either: 1) a defective artificial horizon; and/or 2) a fault in the right-hand aileron tabs.Failure of the captain to maintain control of the aircraft after becoming airborne due to either: 1) a defective artificial horizon; and/or 2) a fault in the right-hand aileron tabs.Share on:
