Page:CAB Accident Report, Continental Airlines Flight 12.pdf/18

COPY CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD WASHINGTON D. C. 20428

May 11, 1966

Honorable William F. McKee

Administrator

Federal Aviation Agency

Washington, D. C. 20553

Dear General McKee:

we have noticed that air carrier accidents involving aquaplaning continue to occur with a frequency which suggests the need for further study of this problem and the initiation of additional remedial action,

Your Amendment Number 121-9 to Part 121 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, effective January 15, 1966, has undoubtedly served to alleviate, in part, the operational hazards associated with aquaplaning. Under the terms of this ammendnent, required runway lengths are increased during conditions conducive to aquaplaning. However, since January 15, 1966, the following turbojet transport category aircraft have been involved in aquaplaning conditions resulting in accidents:

2/27/66 - Delta Air Lines DC-8 - Overshoot at New Orleans, La.

4/1/66 - Allegheny Airlines Convair 580 - Slid off side of snow and slush- covered runway at Bradford, Pa.

In the case of the Continental Airlines Boeing 707 accident at Kansas City on July 1, 1965, it was shown that:

1. The crew was not informed on the characteristics of aquaplaning or its effect on deceleration of the aircraft after landing.

2. The runway length required by the PARS for landing was 6,300 feet while the actual length of the runway was 7,000 feet.

In a study of the Phenomenon of Aircraft Aquaplaning made in 1963, the Bureau of Safety cited 18 accidents and incidents from 1959 through 1962 in which aquaplaning was involved. Since the date of that study, the record shows.that under the same regulation the following accidents and incidents have occurred in which aquaplaning