Page:CAB Accident Report, Pennsylvania-Central Airlines Flight 143.pdf/11

 was on the ground at Charleston no one approached the aircraft except the passengers and the refueling crew.

The Charleston Municipal Airport is situated approximately nine miles west of the City of Charleston in the Kanawha River Valley at a mean elevation of 600 feet above sea level. It is equipped with three runways, extending approximately north-northeast—south-southwest, east-northeast—west-southwest, and southeast-northwest. The Kanawha River channel lies immediately to the south of the airport and is bordered on the south by a range of hills which extend to approximately 1000 feet above sea level. On the north, the airport is bordered by another range of hills which also extend to approximately 1000 feet above sea level. To the west of the airport a primary high-tension line extends across the valley in a north-south direction on towers which are 146 feet above the mean level of the airport. This high-tension line crosses the flight path from the east-northeast—west-southwest runway at a point 2750 feet from the west end of the runway. At a point west of the airport a secondary high-tension line branches off from the primary one and extends across the valley toward the southeast on towers 98 feet above the level of the airport. This secondary line crosses the flight path from the east-northeast—west-southwest runway at a point 2500 feet from the west end of the runway. The secondary power line constitutes an obstruction which requires, to clear it, a minimum climb angle of about 25 to 1 from the end of this runway, while the primary power line constitutes an obstruction which requires a minimum climb angle as steep as 19 to 1 from the end of this runway.