Incident Overview
Date: Tuesday 29 January 1963
Aircraft Type: Vickers 812 Viscount
Owner/operator: Continental Air Lines
Registration Number: N242V
Location: Kansas City Downtown Municipal Airport, MO (MKC) –
ÿ United States of America
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 8 / Occupants: 8
Component Affected: Horizontal stabilizerHorizontal stabilizer
Investigating Agency: CABCAB
Category: Accident
A Viscount aircraft experienced a significant loss of control during a straight-in approach to runway 18, resulting in a ground impact. The aircraft exhibited a sharp pitch down and a wings-level attitude, likely due to ice formation conditions. The incident highlights a potential instability caused by ice accumulation on the horizontal stabilizer.A Viscount aircraft experienced a significant loss of control during a straight-in approach to runway 18, resulting in a ground impact. The aircraft exhibited a sharp pitch down and a wings-level attitude, likely due to ice formation conditions. The incident highlights a potential instability caused by ice accumulation on the horizontal stabilizer.
Description
The Viscount aircraft made a straight-in approach to runway 18 but continued in flight at low altitude over the runway. Near the south end of the runway, at a height of about 90 feet, the plane was observed to pitch down sharply in a wings-level attitude and strike the ground. Weather conditions at the airport were above VFR minima, but during the let-down from cruising altitude and during the landing approach, the flight encountered conditions which were conducive to the formation of rime ice deposits. PROBABLE CAUSE: “An undetected accretion of ice on the horizontal stabilizer which, in conjunction with a specific airspeed and aircraft configuration, caused a loss of pitch control.”
Primary Cause
Undetected ice accumulation on the horizontal stabilizer, combined with airspeed and aircraft configuration, led to a loss of pitch control.Undetected ice accumulation on the horizontal stabilizer, combined with airspeed and aircraft configuration, led to a loss of pitch control.Share on:
