Page:CAB Accident Report, American Airlines Flight 9.pdf/21

 ship making a gliding right turn, in other words, he was coming in from his right turn and he continued in that turn until he was well within the boundaries of the field and from my position in the tower it looked as though the ship might have made ground contact somewhere very close or just east of the spot which is approximately in the center of the field and from that point in the ship continued and so far as I could determine, more or less in a straight line until it crashed into the ditch in the southwest corner of the field ... " Mr. Straub further stated that although a light rain was falling at the time of the landing, the visibility was fully a mile. His estimate was based on the observation of objects located a mile distant from the control tower. The airplane came to rest in Coldwater Creek which extends along the south boundary of the Lambert-St. Louis Airport. The nose section was telescoped when it struck the south bank of the creek but the airplane remained in an upright position. An examination of the wheel tracks made by the airplane during the landing showed that the plane contacted the ground travelling on a heading a little south of west. From the point of first contact with the ground to the point there the accident occurred is approximately 1,875 feet. An examination of the wheel tracks showed deeper impressions at different points which indicated that the brakes were being applied off and on as the airplane progressed across the field. Captain Susott testified that the brakes were functioning normally