Date: | Tuesday 13 December 1977 |
Time: | 19:22 |
Type: | Douglas C-53 (DC-3) |
Owner/operator: | Air Indiana |
Registration: | N51071 |
MSN: | 4837 |
Year of manufacture: | 1941 |
Total airframe hrs: | 19777 hours |
Engine model: | Pratt & Whitney R-1830-94 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 29 / Occupants: 29 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
Category: | Accident |
Location: | Evansville-Dress Regional Airport, IN (EVV) -
United States of America
|
Phase: | Initial climb |
Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
Departure airport: | Evansville-Dress Regional Airport, IN (EVV/KEVV) |
Destination airport: | Nashville Metropolitan Airport, TN (BNA/KBNA) |
Investigating agency: | NTSB |
Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:A Douglas DC-3, N51071, operated as a passenger charter flight to transport the University of Evansville basketball team and associated personnel from Evansville, Indiana, to Nashville, Tennessee. The aircraft departed runway 18 in instrument meteorological conditions. The plane crashed less than 1 minute 30 seconds after takeoff. All 29 persons aboard died in the crash.
The aircraft was operated by National Jet Services, which was doing business as Air Indiana.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "An attempted take-off with the rudder and right aileron control locks installed, in combination with a rearward centre of gravity, which resulted in the aircraft's rotating to a nose-high attitude immediately after take-off, and entering the region of reversed command from which the pilot was unable to recover. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the flight crew to ensure that the passenger baggage was loaded in accordance with the configuration contained on the load manifest. Their failure resulted in a rearward centre of gravity that was aft of the optimum range, but forward of the rearmost limit."
Accident investigation:
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Investigating agency: | NTSB |
Report number: | DCA78AA001 |
Status: | Investigation completed |
Duration: | 8 months |
Download report: | Final report |
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Sources:
Flight International 31 December 77(1893)
Location
Images:
photo (c) via Werner Fischdick; Indianapolis International Airport, IN (IND); November 1976
Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |