Accident Lockheed L-188C Electra N137US,
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ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 333494
 
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Date:Sunday 17 September 1961
Time:08:57
Type:Silhouette image of generic L188 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Lockheed L-188C Electra
Owner/operator:Northwest Orient Airlines
Registration: N137US
MSN: 1142
Year of manufacture:1961
Total airframe hrs:614 hours
Engine model:Allison 501-D13
Fatalities:Fatalities: 37 / Occupants: 37
Aircraft damage: Destroyed, written off
Category:Accident
Location:ca 1,5 km S of Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, IL (ORD) -   United States of America
Phase: Initial climb
Nature:Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, IL (ORD/KORD)
Destination airport:Tampa International Airport, FL (TPA/KTPA)
Investigating agency: CAB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
Lockheed Electra N137US operated on Northwest flight 706 from Milwaukee to Miami (MIA) with intermediate stops at Chicago, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale. After a crew change at Chicago the plane taxied to runway 14R at 08:55 and was cleared for takeoff. Between the 8,000 and the 9,000-foot runway marker the aircraft was observed to commence an apparently coordinated right turn with a slowly increasing rate of bank. When the bank angle was 30 to 45 degrees, the crew made a short, garbled transmission. Immediately thereafter, at a bank angle of 50 to 60 degrees, the aircraft began to lose altitude. The maximum altitude attained in the entire turn was 200 to 300 feet. The right wing struck powerlines adjacent to the Chicago Northwestern Railroad tracks, severing the lines at an angle of about 70 degrees from the horizontal. It then continued in a direction of about 271 degrees magnetic and, when in a bank of about 85 degrees and a nose-down attitude of about 10 degrees, the right wing of the aircraft struck the railroad embankment.
Continuing to roll about its longitudinal axis, the aircraft cartwheeled, the nose crashing into the ground 380 feet beyond the point of first impact, and landed right side up. It then slid tail first another 820 feet. The aircraft disintegrated throughout its path.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "Mechanical failure in the aileron primary control system due to an improper replacement of the aileron boost assembly, resulting in a loss of lateral control of the aircraft at an altitude too low to effect recovery."

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: CAB
Report number: final report
Status: Investigation completed
Duration:
Download report: Final report

Sources:


Location

Images:


photo (c) Greg Reynolds; near Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, IL (ORD/KORD); 17 September 1961


photo (c) Greg Reynolds; near Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, IL (ORD/KORD); 17 September 1961


photo (c) Greg Reynolds; near Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, IL (ORD/KORD); 17 September 1961

Revision history:

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