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was far enough ahead to permit him to proceed to Daytona Beach and at 8:45 A.M. advised West Palm Beach that he was going "on top" to Daytona Beach but that if forced to go on instruments he would stand by until Trip 10 was clear. Receipt of this message was acknowledged by West Palm Beach and was the last radio contact with the flight.
Trip 14 then resumed flight toward Daytona Beach in accordance with the flight plan. The captain stated that shortly after passing over Fort Pierce he turned on the instrument lights because it appeared that he would go on instruments shortly, probably within the next five or six miles. O'Brien at this time ordered the steward to have all passengers fasten their safety belts as he also expected to encounter rough air. After flying for a short distance at an altitude of 3000 feet in a northerly direction, the aircraft entered a hazy region between a solid cloud mass, the base of which was about 5000 feet, and a broken stratus condition, the top of which was about 1500 feet. The captain described the hazy region between the base of the overcast and the top of the stratus formation as gray and opaque. He stated that this haze appeared to be a normal overcast condition and that there did not appear to be any cumulus clouds or a thunderstorm condition above the haze.
O'Brien said that shortly after entering the hazy atmospheric condition they encountered very turbulent air and then a violent updraft, and while they were in this, the first updraft, the air speed dropped back to about 100 m.p.h. while the rate of climb indicator showed an ascent close to 1000 feet per minute. While in the updraft, according to the captain's testimony, he pushed the control wheel forward to nose the airplane down, and upon reaching an altitude of approximately 4000 feet, the air became smooth and the ascent was stopped. He further stated that at this time he started to make a flat turn to the left in an effort to get out of the storm and that while he was making this turn, First Officer Crabtree, after securing his permission lowered the landing gear. According to the captain's testimony the airplane, before starting the left turn was on an initial heading of 340 degrees and when the turn had progressed to 240 degrees he tried to "straighten out the turn", but the airplane continued to turn and his efforts to stop the turn were of no avail. The (directional) gyro indicated that the turn continued until the airplane was headed due north, thus making almost a complete circle. Captain O'Brien stated that after the turn had been stopped the air became extremely turbulent and since he was fully occupied with the control wheel, he requested the first officer to handle the throttle. While in this turbulent air, according to the captain's account, the left wing went down, and remained down even though full opposite aileron was used. Captain O'Brien said that he reached for the throttle in order to apply power to the left engine in an effort to bring the wing up, but that before he could apply power the left wing came up and the right wing went down. He testified that on bringing the airplane to a level attitude the power was reduced due to the violence of the turbulence and with this reduced power the air-speed meter indicated about 130 m.p.h.
The captain, although not able to reconstruct the exact sequence of events from this point on, was of the opinion that they encountered three updrafts and three downdrafts. The highest altimeter reading he recalled was approximately 4500 feet. The captain testified that there "was an extremely strong rotary pressure while in the updrafts" and that the airplane had a tendency to turn to the left in a flat attitude. During these flat turns the (directional) gyro indicated that the heading of the airplane changed more than 180 degrees. According to O'Brien's recollection, the air-speed indicator during the flat turns oscillated between 100 and 120 m.p.h.
O'Brien stated that he was of the opinion that he encountered the "core or center of
