
August 1956 to April 1958
Capital Airlines (USA)
N7437 - c/n 135 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered
December 1954
An order for an additional 20 Type 745D aircraft was placed by Capital Airlines.
This was the 33rd Viscount ordered by Capital Airlines.
Altogether, the total order was worth $67,000,000 US. This was the highest ever US Dollar export order for the UK at the time.
Production Aircraft No. 139 - the 139th production Type 700 series Viscount built,
was the 97th Viscount fuselage assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England,
and the 98th Viscount assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
Production Order No. F33/745. Sales Order No. F33/68B. Stock Order No. F33/27B.
24 August 1955
A drawing showing the cabin seating arrangement was approved and issued.by Capital Airlines and showed 11 rows of 2 + 2 seats with two toilets at the front, one on each side and a large galley at the rear.
7 April 1956
Fuselage assembly commenced at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
20 May 1956
Fuselage to Erecting Shop 'E' at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
24 August 1956
First flight from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
31 August 1956
Delivered to Capital Airlines with fleet number '356' fitted with integral front 'airsteps'.
circa 1958
Large registrations on the rear fuselage appeared after the use of small registrations on the tail were banned by the newly formed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Also by this time weather radar had been fitted resulting in a change to the nose cone.
6 April 1958
Flight 67 crashed at Freeland, Michigan, USA at 23:19 local time on a service from Bishop Airport, Flint, Michigan, USA. This was a multi-stop service from New York to Chicago.
Control of the aircraft was lost during the final approach to Tri-City Airport, Saginaw, Michigan, USA with poor visibility and in icing conditions. It entered a stall followed by an over the top spin as full flap was selected.
It crashed inverted with the cockpit and forward fuselage upper section impacting first. The only recognisable part of the aircraft remaining after the accident was the tail section.
All 44 passengers and 3 crew on board were sadly killed.
The subsequent investigation by the US Bureau of Safety assisted by Fred Jones from the UK Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) based then at Farnborough concluded that an undetected build up of ice on the horizontal stabilisers together with a low airspeed resulted in a loss of pitch control.
The aircraft had been flying for a period with the engines in the flight idle position which meant that the hot exhaust gas bleed from the inboard Rolls-Royce Dart engines would have less effect at the furthest point of travel, which was the horizontal stabilisers.
Although not supported by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) an unofficial directive amongst Capital pilots instructed the use of the inner engines during any manouvering, with the outboard engines kept at flight idle. There were no more accidents relating to horizontal stabiliser icing within the Capital Viscount fleet and subsequently the United Air Lines Viscount fleet.
Continental Airlines sadly suffered an icing related crash to N242V (C/N 356) under similar circumstances, so a more official stance by the CAB to all Viscount operators about how to operate in icing conditions at flight idle may well have prevented this accident.
Only the tail was recognisable
This was the first fatal accident to a Capital Viscount which goes back to June 1955 when the first one was delivered.
Total time 4,776 hours and 3,500 total landings.
FURTHER READING: - Echoes of Flight 67 - The Rest of the Story by William D Reid was published in 1999. ISBN 10 0967791103
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