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Public Hearing
In connection with the investigation of the accident, a hearing was conducted in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, on November 2, 3 and 4, 1941, by the Civil Aviation Branch, before Wing Commander D. G. Joy, District Inspector, Civil Aviation; Edward Warner, Vice Chairman; Jerome Lederer, Director of the Safety Bureau; Robert W. Chrisp, Chief, Accident Legal Section; and Allen P. Bourdon, Senior Air Safety Investigator, were present as representatives of the Board. Depositions were taken in Cheektowaga, near the City of Buffalo, New York, on November 6, 1941, and in New York, New York, on November 24, 1941, before Robert W. Chrisp, acting as examiner for the Board. A public hearing was held in New York, New York, on November 18 and 19, 1941, at which Robert W. Chrisp acted as presiding examiner, and the following personnel of the Safety Bureau of the Board participated. Jerome Lederer, Director; Frank E. Caldwell, Chief, Investigation Division; Allen P. Bourdon, Senior Air Safety Investigator; and Ervin N. Townsend, Air Safety Investigator. As a part of the investigation was conducted in the Dominion of Canada and part in the United States, the Board invited representatives of the Canadian Government to attend the Board's proceedings. Wing Commander D. G. Joy was present at the hearing representing the Canadian Government.
All of the evidence available to the Board at the time was presented at the bearing. Twenty-four exhibits were introduced and eighteen witnesses testified, including personnel of American, the United States Weather Bureau, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Civil Aeronautics Board, and other experts in the various technical subjects involved in the investigation.
While the examiner and the representatives of the Safety Bureau were the only ones designated to ask questions directly of the witnesses, the presiding examiner, acting under instruction of the Board, announced at the opening of the hearing that any person who had any evidence, questions, or suggestions to present for consideration in the proceeding might submit them in writing to the examiner. No such questions were submitted during the hearing.
Upon the basis of all the evidence accumulated in both investigations and hearings the Board now makes its report in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended.
II
SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS OF EVIDENCE
Air Carrier
American, a Delaware corporation, was operating at the time of the accident as an air carrier under certificates of public convenience and necessity and air carrier operating certificates issued pursuant to the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, as amended. These certificates authorized it to engage in air transportation with respect to persons, property, and mail between various points, including the co-terminals New York, New York, and Newark, New Jersey, and the terminal Chicago, Illinois, via intermediate points including Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, New York, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Detroit and Battle Creek, Michigan and South Bend, Indiana, a route known as AM 7.
