1964 — Feb 25, Turbulence, Eastern Air Flight 304 crash, Lake Pontchartrain, LA — 58
— 58 AirDisaster.Com. Accident Database. “Accident Synopsis 02251964.”
— 58 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Eastern Flight 304, 25 Feb 1964.
— 58 CAB. AAR. Eastern Air Lines, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 25, 1964.
— 58 Kimura. World Commercial Aircraft Accidents 3rd Ed., 1946-1993, V.1. 4-11-1994, p.
Narrative Information
ASN: “Eastern Air Lines Flight 304, carrying 51 passengers and a crew of 8 crashes in Lake Pontchartrain, approximately 3 minutes after takeoff, February 25, 1964, killing all….
“Eastern Air Lines (EAL) Flight 304 originated in Mexico City and had intermediate stops scheduled at New Orleans, Atlanta, and Washington prior to the destination of New York City. The DC-8 arrived at Mexico City at 22:12 on February 24, 1964. The captain of the inbound crew reported that “…the only exception to normality was that the PTC (pitch trim compensator) was inoperative, with a fix scheduled for the next morning at Kennedy Airport.” An IFR [Instrument Flight Rules] flight plan for New Orleans was filed with a reduced airspeed, in accordance with company procedures for dispatch under these conditions. The airplane landed at New Orleans at 00:51.
“Takeoff from New Orleans was commenced at 01:59. The airplane appeared to climb normally and the crew contacted the departure controller who instructed them to contact New Orleans Center. At 02:03:15 the crew replied, “OK”….
“During the climb the elevator moved to 2 degrees AND (airplane nose down), which is an abnormal flight condition. Climbing in clouds through 4,000 feet, the DC-8 encountered moderate and probably severe wind shear turbulence. In order to control the airplane under these conditions, the input of the controls probably introduced pilot induced oscillations (PIO) from which the pilot could not recover. Control was lost and the airplane struck the surface of Lake Pontchartrain at a dive angle in excess of 20-degrees.
“A possible factor was the attitude indicator, which was small with a solid black background and difficult to interpret at night. Also, the pitch indication of the attitude indicator was “geared-down” but not indexed as to degrees, making it more difficult to assess the exact attitude of the airplane.” (Aviation Safety Network, Accident Description, Eastern Flight 304, 25 Feb 1964)
CAB: “….This was the last transmission from the flight. At 0205 40, when no transmissions had been received from the flight, the center controller contacted the departure controller to verify that proper instructions had been given. During this conversation both controllers confirmed that the radar target associated with the flight had disappeared from both scopes, and emergency procedures were initiated shortly thereafter. The last position noted by the controllers was approximately eight miles from the New Orleans VORTAC …The aircraft crashed at 14.5 miles… in Lake Pontchartrain.”
“In view of the weather situation that prevailed, pronounced vertical and horizontal wind shear existed in the accident area. Therefore, it is believed that moderate and probably severe wind shear turbulence was encountered by Flight 304 while in the clouds below 6,000 feet. An analysis of the flight recorder of the jet which departed New Orleans immediately after Flight 304, substantiates the severity of the turbulence in the area. Accelerations to +0.2 and +1.9-g between 2,000 and 6,000 feet, recorded on this tape indicate severe turbulence. Since, known or forecast turbulence along the climb path is the prime criterion for selection of the climb speed, it is probable that the crew of Flight 304, unconcerned about turbulence below 14,000 feet, chose 310 knots rather than the lower rough airspeeds depicted in their flight manual….
“The Board determines the probable cause of this accident was the degradation of aircraft stability characteristics in turbulence, because of abnormal longitudinal trim component positions.” (CAB. AAR. Eastern Air Lines, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 25, 1964.)
Sources
AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. “Accident Synopsis 02251964.” Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=02251964®=N8607&airline=Eastern+Air+Lines
Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Eastern Air Lines Flight 304, 25 Feb 1964. Accessed 12/22/2008 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19640225-0
Civil Aeronautics Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Eastern Air Lines, Inc. Douglas DC-8, N8607, New Orleans, Louisiana, February 25, 1964. Washington, DC: CAB, File No. 1-0006, adopted 6-27-1966, released 7-1-1966. Accessed 4-8-2020 at: https://lessonslearned.faa.gov/Northwest705/EAL%20DC-8,%20N8607.pdf
Kimura, Chris Y. World Commercial Aircraft Accidents 3rd Edition, 1946-1993, Volume 1: Jet and Turboprop Aircrafts. Livermore, CA: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Risk Assessment and Nuclear Engineering Group. 4-11-1994.