ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-4 N88899 San Juan-Isla Grande Airport (SIG)

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Status:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:	Friday 11 April 1952
Time:	12:20 AST
Type:	Douglas DC-4
Operator:	Pan American World Airways (Pan Am)
Registration:	N88899
MSN:	10503
First flight:	1945
Total airframe hrs:	20835
Engines:	4 Pratt & Whitney R-2000
Crew:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Passengers:	Fatalities: 52 / Occupants: 64
Total:	Fatalities: 52 / Occupants: 69
Aircraft damage:	Damaged beyond repair
Location:	18 km (11.3 mls) NW off San Juan-Isla Grande Airport (SIG) ( Puerto Rico)
Phase:	En route (ENR)
Nature:	Domestic Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:	San Juan-Isla Grande Airport (SIG/TJIG), Puerto Rico
Destination airport:	New York-Idlewild International Airport, NY (IDL/KIDL), United States of America
Flightnumber:	PA526A

Narrative:
The aircraft, named "Clipper Endeavour" took off from San Juan at 12:11 for a flight to New York when the no. 3 engine failed. The prop was feathered at 350 feet and the crew elected to return to San Juan. The aircraft reached an altitude of 550 feet but the no. 4 engine ran roughly and height couldn't be maintained. To avoid a possible forced landing in a congested area or on coral reef, the aircraft was ditched 11 miles NW of San Juan Airport, 4,5 miles offshore. The rear fuselage broke off behind the bulkhead aft of the main cabin. The plane sank in about 3 minutes.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "a) The company's inadequate maintenance in not changing the No. 3 engine which resulted in its failure immediately subsequent to take-off, and b) The persistent action of the captain in attempting to re-establish a climb, without using all available power, following the critical loss of power to another engine. This resulted in a nose-high attitude, progressive loss of airspeed and the settling of the aircraft at too low an altitude to effect recovery,"

Classification:

Ditching

Sources:

» CAB File No. 1-0026
» Ditch or crash-land?/B.W. Townshend, 1965 (30-32)
» ICAO Circular 38-AN/33 (58-60)

Follow-up / safety actions

It was recommended to, in future, brief passengers about location and usage of floatation equipment and emergency exits before over-water flights.

Photos

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Map

This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from San Juan-Isla Grande Airport to New York-Idlewild International Airport, NY as the crow flies is 2559 km (1599 miles).
Accident location: Exact; as reported in the official accident report.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.

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