1945 — Sep 7, Eastern Air Lines Flight 42 on-board fire leads to crash ~Florence, SC –all 22
Last edit Nov 27, 2023 by Wayne Blanchard for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
— 22 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description, Eastern Air Flight 42, September 7, 1945
— 22 CAB, Accident Investigation Board. Eastern Air – Florence, SC – September 7, 1945.
Narrative Information
Civil Aeronautics Board Accident Investigation Report (Docket No. SA-106, File No. 2970-45):
“The Accident
“Eastern Air Lines’ Flight 42 of September 6, enroute from Miami, Florida, to New York, N. Y., crashed near Florence, S. C., about 0213, September 7, 1945. All nineteen passengers (of which ten were military personnel) and the three crew members were fatally injured. The DC-3 was totally destroyed by impact and fire.
“Description of the Flight
“Flight 42 departed Miami for New York City at 2122 EWT, September 6, 1945, with routine stops at Jacksonville, Fla., and Savannah, Ga. Having obtained an instrument clearance from Airway Traffic Control to cruise at 5,000 feet to Raleigh, N. C., the flight departed Savannah at 0041, September 7, with Washington and Baltimore listed as alternates. At 0150 the flight transmitted a position report to the company station at Washington indicating that it had passed over Florence at 0144 at 5,000 feet. The flight was advised that Raleigh, N. C., its next scheduled stop, was reporting a 300 foot overcast. Since the weather at Raleigh was below authorized minimums, Flight 42 requested permission from the company dispatcher to proceed past Raleigh without landing. The station at Washington advised the flight at 0155 that it had been re-cleared to Washington with Baltimore as an alternate, but no acknowledgement of the message was received.
“At 0205, a radio transmission from Flight 42 was intercepted in which it was indicated that the pilot intended to return to Florence and that he desired clearance to land at Florence Field. Because of the unusually severe radio interference, the entire message was not readable and no reason was apparent at that time for the pilot’s decision to return to Florence. Several subsequent attempts by company, CAA and army stations in the vicinity to contact the flight were unsuccessful.
“While attempting to return to Florence the aircraft crashed at 0213 in a swampy, wooded area 6 miles ENE of Florence Army Air Filed. The wreckage was located at approximately 1040, September 7.
“The Investigation
“The accident occurred near the edge of a dense, marshy forest with thick underbrush and miscellaneous swamp vegetation. The major portion of the wreckage was confined to a relatively small area of about 100 feet square, however, other parts and contents of the airplane were strewn along the flight path over a distance of approximately 7,000 feet northeast of the scene of the wreckage.
“Initial contact of the airplane was with two tall pine trees at a point about 70 feet above the ground. One of these areas tore the bottom of the fuselage from just aft of the nose to about the rear of the cabin. The other tree was glanced by the left wing. Miscellaneous parts of the airplane and its contents were torn out and fell to the ground. The next contacts of the airplane, which was then in a slightly nose-low attitude, were with several medium size trees, one of which severed the left wing tip. After these contacts, the aircraft assumed increasingly a left wing-low attitude, shedding structural parts and contents while continuing through smaller trees. With the left wing dropping until it was almost vertical, the airplane struck the ground, the left wing taking the brunt of the impact. At about this time the vertical tail surfaces were sheared off by two medium size trees and the fuselage broke in two near the main cabin door, the forward part whipping over to the left. Ignited gasoline spread fire consuming most of the forward part of the aircraft and its contents.
“Examination of objects which fell from the aircraft between the points of first and final contacts (495 feet apart) indicated that most of them were from the general region of the lavatory, buffet and rear baggage compartment. All of the objects from this part of the airplane were either severely burned or showed signs of fire. Along this probable flight path back of the point of initial contact were found numerous pieces of burned soundproofing, partially burned paper napkins, a few partially burned letters and a small piece of material from personal luggage. These items were scattered over an area about 400 feet wide and at least a mile long, and are conclusive evidence that the aircraft was afire prior to the crash….
“A detailed study of the wreckage and of the parts which fell from the airplane prior to impact wit the ground indicates definitely that the concentration of fire in flight was in the rear of the fuselage. The great number of pieces of burned paper napkins indicates the presence of fire within the buffet compartment. Burned soundproofing and various items from the lavatory compartment which were found almost completely consumed by fire prior to final impact indicate a strong possibility that the lavatory was the location of the initial fire. However the presence of burned mail and the piece of luggage suggests the possibility of the fire originating within the rear cargo compartment. In general the origin of the fire can be fixed in the area of the right side of the rear baggage compartment, the lavatory and possibly the adjacent portion of the buffet. Apparently flames, sparks and thick smoke were being forced into the tail cone of the fuselage from where they extended into the stabilizers. Fire was so intense in the right stabilizer as to burn through he rear spar web fabric covering and ignite the right elevator in flight….
“Discussion ….
“Examination of the wreckage indicates that the right elevator caught fire immediately prior to the final crash. It is also apparent that all of the passengers, the Flight attendant and the First Officer were crowded into the companionway. These factors would have rendered longitudinal control very difficult and probably made the collision with the first of the trees unavoidable….
“Probable Cause
“The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was fire of undetermined genesis in the rear cargo compartment or lavatory which resulted in the inability of the pilot to maintain altitude long enough to effect a landing.
….
“On the basis of conclusions reached as a result of investigation of this accident and review of available records of aircraft fires, the Board has completed an exhaustive study of the problems of fire in flight and has under consideration extensive revision of the Civil Air Regulations to include requirement of additional installation of fire-prevention equipment on air carrier aircraft. The proposed revisions are currently being coordinated throughout the industry, and it is anticipated that provisions will be made within Civil Air Regulations in the near future to remedy the above deficiencies.” (Civil Aeronautics Board. Accident Investigation Board. Eastern Air – Florence, SC – September 7, 1945.)
Newspaper
Sep 7, Berkshire Evening Eagle, MA: “Before the tangled wreckage of the airliner was sighted the plane had been missing more than 10 hours. Two other EAL planes, private airships and Army planes had been searching a 100-mile area for the big passenger plane.” (Berkshire Evening Eagle (MA), September 7, 1945.)
Sources
Aviation Safety Network, Flight Safety Foundation, Database, 1945, p. 118. Eastern Air Lines Flight EA42 crash 6.3M ENE of Florence SC, 7Sep1945. Accessed 11-27-2023 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19450907-0
Berkshire Evening Eagle, Pittsfield, MA. “Big Airship Located in South Carolina,” 9-7-1945. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=2527500
Civil Aeronautics Board. Accident Investigation Board. Eastern Air Lines – Florence, South Carolina – September 7, 1945 (File No. 2970-45). Washington, DC: CAB, July 19, 1946. Accessed 11-27-2023 at: https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/33257