CRASH OF ELECTRA

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28817, 11 February 1959, Page 16

CRASH OF ELECTRA

T.E.A.L. To Be Given Facts (N.Z. Press Association—Copt/rigM) NEW YORK. February 9. Australian and New Zealand airline operators who had ordered Lockheed Electra airliners would be .given the full facts about last Tuesday's fatal Electra crash in New York as soon as possible, a Lockheed Aircraft Corporation spokesman said tonight. The spokesman made the announcement after the United States Federal Aviation Agency restricted bad weather landings for Electras pending the finding of the inquiry. Sixty-five persons died when an Electra plunged into the East river short of La Guardia Field runway in bad weather. Eleven Electras, including three for Tasman Empire Airways Ltd., are on order for Australian and New Zealand airlines. Landings Restricted The Federal Aviation Agency in New York yesterday imposed nation-wide restrictions on landings in bad weather by Electra passenger aeroplanes. A spokesman for the agency said the restrictions would be in effect while the investigation was going on. “The restrictions are temporary, voluntary on the part of the airlines, and the airlines have accepted the restrictions so that the order is in force now,” he said. The order forbids a pilot to land an Electra When the cloud ceiling over an airport is less than 1000 feet, and when daytime forward visibility is less than a mile. The visibility at night must be at least two miles. Previously the minimums were 400 feet and a mile’s visibility day or night. At the time of the crash the ceiling was 400 feet and visibility two miles. Under the new restriction, the plane must continue in a “holding pattern” above an airport until weather improves, or it is sent elsewhere to land.