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airplane made three or more circles before it struck the ground and that during the descent the motors were surging and the plane was up and down (demonstrating a steep banked left hard tail with coaster movements up and down). Trees and a slight rise in terrain prevented Mr. Willson from seeing the accident.
According to most witnesses the airplane's landing lights were not turned on at any time, no flares were dropped, and each circle appeared to be smaller as the airplane descended to the ground. Most of the witnesses believed that there was no fire on the aircraft while in flight.
Weather Observations
The Water Works Superintendent of St. Thomas who is employed to take weather observations by the Meteorological Service of Canada, stated that an average temperature of 45 degrees was recorded at St. Thomas during the 24-hour period of October 30 and that the sky was overcast. Although he made no visibility recordings for that period he testified that while driving from London, Ontario, to St. Thomas about 9:00 p.m. on the evening of the accident, the visibility was poor. There was no fog on the ground but there was a misty condition prevailing and he said that he could not see more than a mile distant. However, two Royal Canadian Air Force pilots who arrived at the scene of the accident within 20 minutes of its occurrence, stated that the visibility was good and that they could observe the fire of the wreckage and lights at least five miles away. Their testimony was substantiated by that of the lay witnesses who observed the aircraft in flight. All of them stated that the sky was overcast, the night was very dark but that no ground fog or haze obscured their vision.
Two other American flights traversed the same route within three hours preceding the time that Flight 1 crashed. Flight 4, eastbound from Chicago to New York, arrived in Detroit about 7:00 p.m. Shortly thereafter, the flight departed for Buffalo, the next scheduled stop. Captain Brook, in charge, testified that the flight was normal from Detroit to Buffalo and that the weather conditions were good. Ceilings ranged from 4000 feet at Detroit to 7000 feet (his cruising altitude) over the airway. Outside temperatures recorded in flight indicated 42 degrees at 7000 feet over Florence, 46 degrees over Jarvis increasing to 50 degrees on the ground at Buffalo. He stated that during the flight from Detroit to Buffalo no ice was encountered at any altitude.
Flight 41, a non-stop flight from New York to Detroit, departed from LaGuardia Field at approximately 5:30 p.m. The flight checked by radio over Buffalo at 7:43 p.m. and after receiving the latest weather report[1] from American's Buffalo ground station, continued toward Detroit. Captain Williams of this flight testified that most of the flight across Canada was made at an altitude of 6000 feet and that the temperatures were running between 40 and 45 degrees during that portion of the route. The flight arrived in Detroit at 9:15 p.m. and the trip was considered a normal operation. Captain Williams stated that no ice was encountered during the flight.
No turbulence was encountered by either flight between Buffalo and Detroit, and both flights were flying contact while in the vicinity of the point where the accident occurred
5--21156
- ↑ See appendix B.
