Page:CAB Accident Report, Pennsylvania-Central Airlines Flight 17.pdf/11

- 10 - Conduct of the Flight

Trip 17 was properly dispatched at Washington and properly re-dispatched at Cleveland.

Under the circumstances Captain Read used poor judgment on electing to land at Detroit toward the northeast instead of using the east-northeast–west—southwest runway. His stated reason for doing so was that such a landing would make it possible for him to turn and extend the landing roll into the northwest corner of the airport in case the surface proved to be slippery. However, the landing path which he selected was only about 3350 feet long. He should have foreseen that he might be unable to make the left turn into the northwest corner of the field if he overshot and found the field to be slippery. The east—northeast–west-southwest runway was more clearly defined since the floodlights at the east-northeast end were lighted, and, although Captain Reed thought that he would get better traction on the sod than on the paved runway, it is probable that the reverse was true under the conditions then existing.

It also appears from the evidence that Captain Read made his first glide at too great a speed and too high an altitude. Captain Read testified that he normally crossed the boundary of the airport in his final glide at Detroit at an airspeed of 85 m.p.h., and that he crossed the boundary on this occasion at approximately that speed. However, First Officer Ricks, who was calling the airspeeds, stated that the aircraft passed the boundary at an airspeed of 110 m.p.h. and other