Page:CAB Accident Report, Slick Airways Flight 25C.pdf/1

 SA.

ADOPTED: October 8, 1963

SLICK AIRWAYS, INC LOCKHEED CONSTELLATION 1049H, N 9740Z SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA FEBRUARY 3, 1963

SYNOPSIS

A Slick Airways Lockheed 1049H, N 9740Z, crashed and burned during an ILS approach to runway 28R at the San Francisco International Airport at approximately 1207 P.s.t., February 3, 1963. Due to an inoperative glide slope receiver, the crew was listening to radar advisories on the localizer receiver for altitude information. The aircraft struck approach lights 1,170 feet from the runway threshold, climbed to about 200 feet and then crashed approximately 1,900 feet beyond the threshold and on the left edge of runway 28L. Of the three crew members and five passengers aboard, the captain, first officer, and two passengers received fatal injuries. The remaining persons aboard received serious injuries. The aircraft was destroyed by subsequent fire.

The Board determines the probable cause of this accident was the continuation of an instrument approach after adequate visual reference was lost below authorized minimums. Inadequate monitoring of the instrument approach by the PAR controller was a contributing factor.

INVESTIGATION

Slick Airways, Inc., Lockheed 1049H, N 9740Z, departed the Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia, on February 1, 1963, en route to the Naval Air Facility, China Lake, California, with an en route stop at Dallas, Texas. The flight operated as a cargo flight under the provisions of Part 42 of the Civil Air Regulations.

The aircraft departed Dallas at 2257 c.s.t., en route to China Lake. The crew consisted of Captain Richard A. MacCallum, First Office William H. Coryell, and Flight Engineer John J. Walik. After departing Dallas, the flight engineer noted the alternating current (AC) voltmeter pegged at the maximum reading of 150 volts. Shortly Sterwards, the first officer informed the engineer that he had lost all of his radio navigation instruments. A check by the flight engineer revealed that all AC radio fuses had been blown and that the AC voltmeter read 150 volts in all positions of the voltmeter selector switch. In-flight attempts to restore power to the navigation equipment were futile and, in the vicinity of Albuquerque, New Mexico, it was decided to land and repair the aircraft's malfunctioning equipment. The landing at Albuquerque was made at 0105 m.s.t.

There were four inverters in the AC electrical system of Slick 40Z. There consisted of a 400-cycle, 115-volt, single phase NESA inverter and three 400-cycle,