Page:CAB Accident Report, Pan Am Flight 115.pdf/3

- 3 - At this time Captain lynch with considerable difficulty returned to his seat. is he passed the flight engineer, Mr. Sinski reminded him that the power was still at crusiecruise [sic] thrust. The captain pulled the power levers to idle position and pulled himself into his seat, which had been moved fully rearward when he left it. His normal seat position when flying is full forward, rudder pedals in the full aft position. Mr. Hackey and Mr. Laird, the navigator, had changed seats and the captain asked Mr. Laird, who was now immediately behind him, to hold him in his seat. Everyone in the cockpit was seriously affected by the G forces which made it difficult or impossible to move properly their heads, hands, or feet. Captain Lynch said that his head was bent over and his feet seemed pinned to the floor.

A quick glance at his instruments showed the airspeed needle in the vacant area to the right near the zero mark, and the altimeter passing through 17,000 feet with the needle turning at a terrific rate. He could not see the Mach meter because it was hidden by the control wheel and he could not lift his head. The artificial horizon was of no use to him because it had tumbled, and the turn and bankindicator was full to the right with the ball positioned slightly to the left of center. He quickly glanced at Copilot Peters and seeing his struggling with the controls shouted, "I have command." The stabilizer was in the full nosedown position and his electric trim button failed to function. Visual reference was impossible because they were in a cloud. Hr. Laird somehow managed to fasten the captain's safety belt and while this was being done Captain lynch rolled the wings level and the G forces were relieved. The flight engineer, now able to save, immediately pulled the circuit breaker which deactivated the stabilizer system and then straddled the console and began rolling both stabilizer wheels toward the up position by hand. As they passed through 8,000 feet Captain Lynch pulled the yoke back with a steady pull. At 6,000 feet there was a terrific violent pounding or buffeting which lasted a couple of seconds and then the aircraft ceased to descend and began a fairly steep climb. At 9,000 feet the wings were level and the aircraft was in a moderate climb. About this time the captain asked Flight Engineer Sinski to roll the stabilizer a bit forward and with the aircraft responding reasonably well to control demands he realized he had once again regained positive control. He then moved the horizon swatch to the No. 2 position, selecting the No. 2 vertical gyro, and his artificial horizon responded normally; however, when returned to the No. 1 position his horizon registered normal pitch movements, but depicted a steep bank. Captain Lynch noticed that the stabilizer cutout switch was in the on position and that the flash trim switch was in the off position. After determining their position the flight immediately advised Gander OAC of the difficulty and a cruise altitude of 31,000 feet was obtained for the remainder of the trip.

During the climb some of the passengers felt the need for oxygen and it was administered by means of the portable bottles and the cabin's regular oxygen system The cabin pressurization system functioned in a normal manner throughout the entire event. When 31,000 feet was attained, a long-range cruise configuration was set up with a speed of Mach 0.79 and the aircraft was manually flour: to Gander without further incident.

On arrival at Gander the aircraft was carefully examined and it was determined that although it had sustained extensive structural damage it could, with minor repairs, be flown safer to the Boeing plant at Seattle, Washington, for final repair.