Page:CAB Accident Report, Delta Air Lines Flight 15.pdf/2

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until it was too late to attempt a landing. This approach was from the southwest. The pilot then turned to the west and passed behind a ridge approximately 100 feet high, located north and slightly to the west of the airport. After placing the aircraft on a heading slightly east of south he came in across the top of this ridge. He throttled the engines and made a normal landing off the runway with flaps fully extended. First contact with the ground was made at a point approximately in the center of the usable area in the direction in which he was landing. The captain states that because he was unable to see the far end of the field he decided not to go around again. Brakes were applied increasingly. However the slippery condition of the field, which had frozen during the night and had then begun to thaw, rendered the brakes ineffective. The aircraft rolled and skidded toward the Administration Building. In an attempt to avoid this building and two parked aircraft which were near it, the pilot applied power to the right engine and applies the left rudder and left brake, with no effect. The aircraft rolled over the edge of the ramp whereupon the pilot released the left brake and applied full left rudder and power to the right engine. The aircraft turned about 60 or 70 degrees to the left and then, while moving very slowly, went up on its nose and left wing.

The direction in which the aircraft was landed affords not only a very short length of usable landing area but also requires that the aircraft be brought in over the previously mentioned ridge which further reduces the usable landing area.

The landing-down-through minimums for daylight operation with Lockheed Model 10-B aircraft, as authorized in Delta Airlines' Weather Letter of Competency and as approved by the Administrator, were, on January 4, 1941:

The letter also contains the following paragraph: