Page:CAB Accident Report, AAXICO Logair Flight 1416B.pdf/6

- 6 - Most of the witnesses located near the accident site described thunderstorm activity in the area with heavy rain, lightning and strong northwesterly winds. None of these witnesses reported hail.

The flight crew reported that shortly after leaving Tinker AFB the weather en route to Whiteman AFB was clear with visibility unrestricted. Upon arriving in the area of Whiteman AFB they noticed a thunderstorm west of the field with showers extending to the east. The weather to the east of the base was clear. Visibility to the south was restricted due to the thunderstorm moving across the approach end of runway 36.

The accident occurred in the early morning daylight.

1.8 Aids to Navigation

Runway 36 at Whiteman AFB is equipped with ILS which was reported by Air Force technicians to have been capable of operating within acceptable tolerances at the time of the accident. The crew stated that both ILS receivers were functioning normally and that they observed no warning flags while on the approach for a landing.

The tower controller stated that at the approximate time of the accident the ILS localizer (LOC), the middle marker (MM), the outer marker (OM), the TACAN and the TVOR went into an alarm status. Base power serves the TAVAN and private leased power serves the TVOR, OM, LOC, and MM. When the accident occurred, the commercial power line serving the LOC and MM was severed. About the same time the base was hit by lightning which caused other power failures. After the accident, base electronic maintenance personnel proceeded to the site of each NAVAID that had malfunctioned and found in each instance that either standby or regular power was available. No maintenance work was required to restore the NAVAIDs to normal operation at the equipment site.

The ILS glide slope is set at an angle of 2.87 degrees above the horizontal and intersects the runway 1,020 feet from the threshold or 2,020 feet from the end of the runway overrun. The glide slope centerline is 200 feet above the middle marker and 225 feet hight than the tree which was struck by the aircraft during the approach. The middle marker is located 0.6 miles from the runway threshold. The outer marker is five miles from the runway threshold. The ILS landing minima for Whiteman AFB at the time of this accident were ceiling 200 feet and visibility one-half mile.

1.9 Communications

Radio communications between the tower controller and the flight crew were conducted on frequency 126.2 mcs. All transmissions from the flight were made by the first officer who stated after the accident that there were no communication problems.