Mohawk Airlines Flight 40

Mohawk Airlines Flight 40
Accident summary
Artist's rendering of a Mohawk BAC 1-11
Date	June 23, 1967
Summary	Mechanical failure, causing • In-flight fire • Structural failure • Loss of control
Site	Blossburg, Pennsylvania 41°40′57″N 77°3′5″W / 41.68250°N 77.05139°W / 41.68250; -77.05139Coordinates: 41°40′57″N 77°3′5″W / 41.68250°N 77.05139°W / 41.68250; -77.05139
Passengers	30
Crew	4
Fatalities	34 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	BAC 1-11 204AF
Operator	Mohawk Airlines
Registration	N1116J

Mohawk Airlines Flight 40 was a scheduled passenger flight between Elmira, New York and Washington, DC. On June 23, 1967 it suffered a loss of control and crashed, killing all 30 passengers and four crew on board. It was the deadliest disaster in the airline's history. A valve in the auxiliary power unit had suffered a complete failure, spreading fire to the tailplane, causing a loss of pitch control.

Aircraft

This particular BAC 1-11 was new, having had its first flight the previous year. Its airframe had accumulated 2,246 hours in total. It was equipped with two model 506-14 Spey engines manufactured by Rolls-Royce. Its registration number was N1116J.

History of flight

The aircraft, a BAC 1-11, took off from runway 24 at Elmira Corning Regional Airport at approximately 14:39 EDT.^[1] It was cleared to climb to 16,000 feet five minutes later. Nine minutes after that, several eyewitnesses saw large pieces of the tailplane break away from the plane as it proceeded south from Mansfield, Pennsylvania,^[2] and flames and smoke come from the fuselage. The aircraft subsequently lost control and plunged into a heavily wooded area served only by dirt roads. No one on the ground was hurt but there were no survivors aboard the plane. Thereafter, the air traffic controller at New York Center vectored a Piper Archer over the area of Flight 40's target disappearance. The pilot of this plane reported observing the burning wreckage of an airplane, which was later identified as Flight 40.^[3]

The plane gouged a strip through the woods about 100 yards wide and 500 yards long. The tail section was thrown 400 yards from the impact site of the crash. Some of the witnesses were workmen at a coal strip mine who immediately took a bulldozer and plowed two roads through to the site a mile and a half away.

Shortly after the incident, Robert E. Peach, president of Mohawk, demanded an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In a telegram to J. Edgar Hoover, director of the F.B.I., Mr. Peach wrote: "Evidence has developed in the course of notification of next of kin of crash victims which leads to strong suggestion of sabotage. Mohawk Airlines formally demands that the F.B.I. investigate the possibility of sabotage." Mr. Peach would not make public the nature of the "evidence," however.^[4]

Investigation

The Civil Aeronautics Board, predecessor to the NTSB, launched a full investigation. The findings of that investigation are as follows:

A non-return valve in the auxiliary power unit (APU) had suffered a complete failure. This allowed bleed air from the engine to flow through the system in the wrong direction. This air exited at the start of the system at sufficient temperatures to ignite components there. The fire quickly spread to the hydraulics in the aircraft, and moved along the hydraulic lines to the rear of the plane. There, it caused heavy damage to the tail, causing a loss of pitch control which sent the airplane diving into the ground.

Notable passenger

Very Reverend Alexander Bernard Beaton, age 51. A native of Lourdes, Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Canada; he was just elected to the position of Superior General of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement several weeks prior to the crash and was residing at Graymoor, Garrison, NY. He was flying to attend a General Chapter meeting of the Order that was being held in Washington, DC. At the time of his death, Very Reverend Beaton was the youngest person ever to be elected as head of that Order.

Another noted passenger was Rev. De Sales Standerwick, rector of Graymoor's St. John's Seminary at Montour Falls, near Elmira.

Aftermath

In July 1967 the NTSB made three safety recommendations to the FAA. Consequently, the FAA issued Airworthiness Directive 68-1-1 to prevent heat damage or fire in the airframe plenum of the auxiliary power unit (APU) installation.

Notes

↑ http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR68-AG.pdf
↑ http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR68-AG.pdf
↑ http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR68-AG.pdf
↑ New York Times, June 24, 1967

References

External links

← 1966
Aviation accidents and incidents in 1967 (1967)
1968 →

Feb 16 Garuda Indonesia Flight 708
Mar 5 Lake Central Flight 527
Mar 5 Varig Airlines Flight 837
Mar 9 TWA Flight 553
Mar 10 West Coast Flight 720
Mar 13 South African Airways Flight 406
Apr 20 Nicosia Britannia disaster
Jun 4 Stockport disaster
Jun 23 Mohawk Airlines Flight 40
Jun 30 Thai Airways International Flight 601
Jul 19 Piedmont Airlines Flight 22
Oct 12 Cyprus Airways Flight 284
Nov 4 Iberia Airlines Flight 062
Nov 6 TWA Flight 159
Nov 15 X-15 Flight 3-65-97
Nov 16 Aeroflot Flight 2230
Nov 20 TWA Flight 128

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