Page:Aviation Accident Investigation - TWA crash on 6 May 1935 - Statement by Secretary Roper.pdf/2

 error on the part of the pilot in proceeding after he was unable to effectively communicate with the ground, and failure of the T.W.A. ground personnel at Kansas City to expeditiously redispatch the plane to a field where safe landing might be effected.

Violations by the Transcontinental & Western Air, Incorporated, of five Bureau regulations are indicated and such violations will be filed against the company. The regulations under which the alleged violations occurred were made effective as of October 1, 1934. They were supplied the T.W.A company in mimeographed form in November, 1934, and were accepted by the company and subsequently printed in its manual with the added comment on each page of the manual that the regulations were approved by the Bureau. The violations which will be followed are as follows:


 * 1. Regulations require that when a first pilot has been absent from an airline division for more than six months, he shall obtain approval from the Bureau of Air Commerce before returning to duty.

While Pilot Bolton had previously flown the Los Angeles-Kansas City Division for an extended period, he had been regularly assigned for nearly a year prior to the accident to the Kansas City-Howard run and had not been approved for duty for scheduled operation on the Western Division.


 * 2. Regulations require that airline first pilots shall be examined every three months by designated medical examiners to determine their fitness.

Pilot Bolton did not take the quarterly medical examination during the month of February 1935, as required by the regulations.


 * 3. The regulations require that where waivers of flight time limitations are allowed for continuous flight exceeding eight hours without an approved rest period, the co-pilot shall hold a scheduled air transport rating.

Co-pilot Greeson did not hold a scheduled air transport rating.


 * 4. The regulations provide that air line craft shall carry sufficient fuel and oil to fly forty-five minutes in addition to the time required for the flight to the next scheduled stop or refueling station. Such additional fuel and oil shall be above and beyond that required by abnormal wind and weather conditions.

The tanks of the SKY CHIEF contained only a 27 minute reserve fuel supply when the crash occurred. When the fact was available at Kansas City that the ceiling was lower than the authorized minimum, which was while the plane was in the vicinity of Wichita, the Kansas City dispatcher should have grounded the ship at Wichita for fuel and further instructions. Instead, he allowed