Page:CAB Accident Report, 1942 TWA DC-3 and Army C-53 mid-air collision.pdf/9

- 7 - north heading. They continued in the climb, and, upon instructions from Welsh, Linke advanced the manifold pressure from 26½ inches to 28 inches. They stated further that it was immediately after making this adjustment that the collision occurred. The aircraft shuddered violently and the impact threw the nose and left wing down, slowing up the aircraft considerably. Captain Welch then took over the controls. Both pilots knew they had collided with something but did not know what.

The aircraft came out of the overcast, heading southeast, in an attitude described by Welch as between a tight left spiral and a spin." Captain Welch, in an effort to effect recovery, reduced the power, applied full right rudder and full right aileron, and maneuvered the aircraft in such a manner as to further reduce the speed. He then cut the power completely. Upon finding that this reduced his control he re-applied power and called to Lipke for full flap. He selected one or more fields in which to attempt a crash landing. However, he had very little or no control. When within a short distance of the ground, with the landing gear up, and the airspeed reduced to approximately 60 miles an hour, the aircraft struck several small trees, hit the ground, and swung around to the right about 90° before coming to a stop.

After landing, Captain Welch called TWA on the ship's radio and reported that he had made a crash landing approximately 5 miles north of North Kansas City, near Linden. (See map opposite page.)

Witnesses

There were no witnesses to the collision as it occurred in the overcast. The Army C-53 was observed by the TWA junior radio operator after it came through the base of the overcast, circled very low and landed while still turning. There were two known witnesses to the maneuvers of the DC3 after it came through the overcast and made a crash lending. One was a man