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1931 Transcontinental & Western Air Fokker F-10 crash: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 38°14′09″N 96°35′12″W / 38.23583°N 96.58667°W / 38.23583; -96.58667
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Today, the legacy of the Flight 599 crash is simply that the most dangerous way to travel in 1931 -- [[airlines]] -- radically transformed into what has now become the safest way to travel.<ref name="harris1"></ref>
Today, the legacy of the Flight 599 crash is simply that the most dangerous way to travel in 1931 -- [[airlines]] -- radically transformed into what has now become the safest way to travel.<ref name="harris1"></ref>


==Memorial & Commemoration==
==Memorials & Commemorations==
* The [http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/27/1779292/knute-rockne-memorial.html '''Rockne Memorial''', crash site, Bazaar, Kansas] at the site of the crash of TWA Flight 599, memorializes Rockne and the 7 others who died with him. The tall engraved-granite marker, a memorial dedicated to the victims and topped with the name "Rockne", stands surrounded by a wire fence with wooden posts; it was maintained for many years by [[James Heathman|James Easter Heathman]] (d.2003), who, at age 13 in 1931, was one of the first people to arrive at the site of the tragedy.<ref name=boston>{{cite news | first=Maria | last=Sudekum Fisher | title=J. E. Heathman; found crash that killed Rockne | url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/02/01/j_e_heathman_found_crash_that_killed_rockne/ | work=[[Associated Press]] | publisher=[[Boston Globe]] | date=2008-02-01 | accessdate=2008-02-14}}</ref> Now part of the Heathman family estate, the memorial & crash site are accessible only by arrangement with the landowners, or during memorial commemorations.<ref name="harris1"></ref>
* The [http://www.chasecountyks.org/attractions/Knute_rockne.htm '''Knute Rockne Memorial''', crash site, Bazaar, Kansas] at the site of the crash of TWA Flight 599, [http://www.kansas.com/2011/03/27/1779292/knute-rockne-memorial.html memorializes Rockne and the 7 others who died with him]. The tall engraved-granite marker, a memorial dedicated to the victims and topped with the name "Rockne", stands surrounded by a wire fence with wooden posts; it was maintained for many years by [[James Heathman|James Easter Heathman]] (d.2003), who, at age 13 in 1931, was one of the first people to arrive at the site of the tragedy.<ref name=boston>{{cite news | first=Maria | last=Sudekum Fisher | title=J. E. Heathman; found crash that killed Rockne | url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/02/01/j_e_heathman_found_crash_that_killed_rockne/ | work=[[Associated Press]] | publisher=[[Boston Globe]] | date=2008-02-01 | accessdate=2008-02-14}}</ref> Now part of the Heathman family estate, the memorial & crash site are on private property, off-road, and accessible only [http://www.ndnation.com/boards/showpost.php?b=faq;pid=26;d=this by arrangement] with the landowners, or during memorial commemorations. To schedule a visit to the Rockne crash site, contact one of these (in advance, PLEASE):
** [http://www.chasecountyhistoricalmuseum.com/ Chase County Historical Museum], Cottonwood Falls, KS; 620-273-8500, or
** [http://www.chasecountychamber.org Chase County Chamber of Commerce], Cottonwood Falls, KS; 620-273-8469, or
** John & Sue Ann Brown: e-mail at eastersdaughter (at) yahoo.com (NOTE: At last report, before the 2011 commemoration, they lived 30 miles away and had other obligations, but we would "be glad to help out as much as we can."<ref name="harris1"></ref><ref name="visit_arrangements_ndnation_com">[http://www.ndnation.com/boards/showpost.php?b=faq;pid=26;d=this "Rockne Crash Site Visit Information
"], with contact instructions from Sue Ann (Heathman) Brown.</ref>


* A '''memorial ceremony''' is held at the crash site memorial (and at a nearby schoolhouse) every five (5) years since the crash, drawing relatives of the victims, and Rockne / Notre Dame fans, from around the world. In 2011, on the 80th anniversary of the crash, over 150 people gathered, including former Football Hall of Fame director Bernie Kish. Speeches were made, a bagpipe played, and a small plane flew over the crowd at the crash site, on the exact minute of the crash.<ref name="harris1"></ref>
* A '''memorial ceremony''' is held at the crash site memorial (and at a nearby schoolhouse) every five (5) years since the crash, drawing relatives of the victims, and Rockne / Notre Dame fans, from around the world. In 2011, on the 80th anniversary of the crash, over 150 people gathered, including former Football Hall of Fame director Bernie Kish. Speeches were made, a bagpipe played, and a small plane flew over the crowd at the crash site, on the exact minute of the crash.<ref name="harris1"></ref>

Revision as of 16:51, 17 May 2013

TWA Flight 599
Accident
DateMarch 31, 1931
SummaryStructural failure
SiteBazaar Township, Chase County, Kansas, US
38°14′09″N 96°35′12″W / 38.23583°N 96.58667°W / 38.23583; -96.58667
Aircraft typeFokker F.10
OperatorTranscontinental and Western Air
RegistrationNC999Edisaster[1]
Flight originKansas City, Missouri
StopoverWichita, Kansas
DestinationLos Angeles, California
Passengers6
Crew2
Fatalities8 (all)
Injuries0
Survivors0
Knute Rockne memorial on the Kansas Turnpike.

The 1931 crash of a wood-winged Fokker F-VII tri-motor airliner, TWA Flight 599, in the Kansas prairie -- which killed popular sports hero Knute Rockne and 7 others -- was one of the most historic crashes in world aviation history. The infamous disaster brought radical changes to airline regulations, operations and aircraft -- ultimately forcing a radical change in the state of the art of aviation. The 'Rockne Crash' (as it is often referred to) stimulated radical advances in aircraft design and development, and airline industry practices. The result was a pivotal improvement in airline safety, profitability and popularity.[2][3]

The Crash

Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 599 was a Fokker F.10 Trimotor en route from Kansas City, Missouri, to Los Angeles, California, on March 31, 1931. On the first leg of the flight, from Kansas City to Wichita, Kansas, the airplane crashed a few miles southwest of Bazaar, Kansas; all eight on board died, including famed football coach Knute Rockne, of the University of Notre Dame[2] [3]

It is often claimed that Flight 599 went down in or shortly after a thunderstorm, but meteorological records show that there was no significant convective activity at the time.

The accident was arguably caused by the composition of the aircraft.

The wings of Fokker Trimotors were manufactured out of wood laminate; in this instance, moisture had leaked into the interior of one wing over a period and had weakened the glue bonding the structural members (called struts or spars) that prevented the wing from fluttering in flight. One spar finally failed; the wing developed uncontrolled flutter and separated from the aircraft.

Questions have been raised about the exact sequence of events in the crash, and eyewitness accounts raise further questions about the exact sequence of events and the associated technical analysis.

Among the issues speculated (and some say indicated) is that the craft may have been dealing with turbulence, or icing on the aircraft, or both -- which could have resulted in flying conditions that may have led to control difficulty, and an overstressing of the wing. (As evidence, some cite the co-pilot's radio call to Wichita, an hour into the flight, saying "The weather here is getting tough. We're going to turn around and go back to Kansas City.") [2]

In any case, the structural condition of the wooden wing is widely agreed to have been at least a significant contributory factor.[2][3]

Public Impact and Aviation Legacy

Although the accident is best known for the death of Knute Rockne, the accident also caused numerous major changes in American aviation that would ultimately radically transform airline safety, throughout the U.S., and even worldwide. In fact, other comparable crashes had occurred before, but this one -- killing a popular national hero, Rockne -- brought a national outcry and obsession with getting "answers to the mystery," and a national demand for solutions to prevent such disasters in the future.[2][3][4] The crash triggered a sequence of public impacts that ultimately changed aviation forever:

  • Rockne Mourned & Questions Raised
  • Airline Regulation & Operations
  • Aircraft Design & Technology
  • Airline Safety Revolution

Rockne Mourned & Questions Raised

By far, the most notable person aboard the plane was legendary national icon Knute Rockne, head football coach at the University of Notre Dame, virtually a national hero. Revered as more than simply the winningest football coach of all time, Rockne -- famed for coaching his players towards both victory and morality -- was a beloved national moral philosopher, at the start of the trials of the Great Depression. Despite his Norwegian immigrant origins, was regarded as the "All-American" icon of virtuous strength and honorable success.

Rockne was on his way to Los Angeles to participate in the production of the Hollywood motion picture The Spirit of Notre Dame (released October 13, 1931). Shortly before taking off from Kansas City, Rockne had stopped to visit his two sons, Bill and Knute Jr., who were in boarding school there. [5] [2] [3]

The sudden, dramatic death of Rockne startled the nation, and triggered a national outpouring of grief, comparable to the deaths of presidents. President Herbert Hoover called Rockne's death "a national loss."[6][7] King Haakon VII of Norway (Rockne's birthplace) posthumously knighted Rockne, and sent a personal envoy to Rockne's massive funeral. Tens of thousands of people from around the world gathered at the funeral, which was broadcast around the globe.[8][9]

Driven by the public feeling for Rockne, the crash story played out at length in nearly all of the nation's newspapers, and gradually evolved into a demanding public inquiry into the causes and circumstances of the crash.[3][4][10]

Airline Regulation & Operations

At first, it brought changes to the operations of both TWA and the Aeronautics Branch of the US Department of Commerce, forerunner of today's FAA.

All Fokker Trimotors in U.S. airline service were temporarily grounded, and they were henceforth required to undergo more frequent and rigorous inspections and maintenance.[3][11] The expense of this, compounded with the bad publicity associated with Rockne's death, almost sank TWA -- while the aircraft manufacturer, Fokker, suffered a serious blow to its reputation and sales.

The intense public interest in the cause of the accident forced the Department of Commerce to abandon its policy of keeping the results of aircraft accident investigations secret.[3][11][2]

Many references claim that the accident was also the impetus for the formation of the Civil Aeronautics Board, an independent investigative organization and the predecessor of the NTSB, but the CAB was not formed until 1940, after an accident involving US Senator Bronson M. Cutting underlined the department's conflicts of interest with respect to its associations with airlines and its provision and maintenance of navigational aids.[12]

Nevertheless, the Rockne crash made it a public expectation for the U.S. government to provide objective review of crashes, and public release of the findings, beginning the U.S.'s government's change-forcing tradition of public air crash investigation reports, which began to pinpoint and publicize blame for accidents, forcing safety improvements by both government and industry.[11][2][3]

Aircraft Design & Technology

Just as important, the Flight 599 disaster discredited wood-framed aircraft, and effectively forced the airlines into all-metal aircraft. The result was a leap forward in aircraft design quality and safety, as airplane manufacturers developed new, advanced all-metal designs under pressure from the airlines, largely driven by the crash of Flight 599.[11][2][3][10]

Airlines first turned to the all-metal Ford Trimotor -- a slow, boxy trimotor similar to the Flight 599 Fokker, but all-metal, and already available and in use at the time. Though arguably slower than the Fokker and far more costly to build, the Ford offered sturdy all-metal construction and (in some cases) greater capacoity.[13](p.106) [2][14]

Then Boeing developed the first truly modern airliner, the Boeing 247, which ushered in key design features no common to most airliners:[13](pp.108-110) [15](p.46) [16]

  • hollow-shell ("monocoque") all-metal design (aluminum), for light and streamlined aircraft structure.
  • retractable landing gear (for significant streamlining, and greater speed/efficiency)
  • NACA engine cowling (for significant streamlining, and greater speed/efficiency)
  • supercharged engines, forcing pressurized air into the engines -- increasing power, and enabling operation in thinner air at higher altitudes, over some weather.
  • sufficient reserve engine power to allow safe takeoff, with a full load, on only one engine (of multiple engines), in the event of an engine failure at takeoff (time of highest likelihood for engine failure).
  • controllable-pitch propellers (like a continuously-variable transmission on an automobile, allowing a wider range of flying speeds, more thrust for takeoff, and more efficient propulsion, improving performance), on later models, starting with 247D.
  • de-icing equipment.

The Boeing 247, however, would soon be utterly eclipsed by another plane designed in response to the Rockne crash,[15](p.46) [16] the...

Finally, the most important airplane of all time[13](pp.110), the Douglas DC-3 was developed -- initially as the Douglas DC-1 / Douglas DC-2 to fill TWA's demand for an all-metal replacement for its suddenly-obsolete trimotor aircraft.

United Airlines (under United Aircraft, which was also the parent company of Boeing, at the time), had monopolized all Boeing 247 production -- forcing TWA to look elsewhere to modernize its fleet away from the wooden Fokkers and clunky Fords; the Douglas DC-2 was the result. [17][10]

The DC-2 took all the advances of the Boeing 247 a step further -- with greater speed, range, and payload -- and resulted, ultimately, in the rounding of its fuselage into the wider, 21-seat Douglas DC-3, which became the first airliner to truly make airlines profitable.[3] [13](p.111)

The DC-3 revolutionized the affordability and availability, and safety, of air travel -- triggering an explosion in airline travel to seven times the volume within a few years of the Rockne crash. Consequently, most of the world's air travel was in DC-3s by the start of World War II (in which the DC-3 became the most successful military transport). The DC-3 launched regional airlines in the postwar years, and remained a powerful force in spreading aviation's benefit for the rest of the century, with some still working today.[13](pp.110-113) [3]

Airline Safety Revolution

With these superior, safer aircraft -- matched to greatly increased and more-public government inspection and regulation of aviation -- crash rates plummetted, to a tiny fraction of the fatality rates of the wooden airliner years.[12]

Today, the legacy of the Flight 599 crash is simply that the most dangerous way to travel in 1931 -- airlines -- radically transformed into what has now become the safest way to travel.[3]

Memorials & Commemorations

  • The Knute Rockne Memorial, crash site, Bazaar, Kansas at the site of the crash of TWA Flight 599, memorializes Rockne and the 7 others who died with him. The tall engraved-granite marker, a memorial dedicated to the victims and topped with the name "Rockne", stands surrounded by a wire fence with wooden posts; it was maintained for many years by James Easter Heathman (d.2003), who, at age 13 in 1931, was one of the first people to arrive at the site of the tragedy.[7] Now part of the Heathman family estate, the memorial & crash site are on private property, off-road, and accessible only by arrangement with the landowners, or during memorial commemorations. To schedule a visit to the Rockne crash site, contact one of these (in advance, PLEASE):
    • Chase County Historical Museum, Cottonwood Falls, KS; 620-273-8500, or
    • Chase County Chamber of Commerce, Cottonwood Falls, KS; 620-273-8469, or
    • John & Sue Ann Brown: e-mail at eastersdaughter (at) yahoo.com (NOTE: At last report, before the 2011 commemoration, they lived 30 miles away and had other obligations, but we would "be glad to help out as much as we can."[3][18]
  • A memorial ceremony is held at the crash site memorial (and at a nearby schoolhouse) every five (5) years since the crash, drawing relatives of the victims, and Rockne / Notre Dame fans, from around the world. In 2011, on the 80th anniversary of the crash, over 150 people gathered, including former Football Hall of Fame director Bernie Kish. Speeches were made, a bagpipe played, and a small plane flew over the crowd at the crash site, on the exact minute of the crash.[3]
  • The Matfield Green rest stop & travel plaza on the Kansas Turnpike, near Bazaar (where TWA Flight 599 crashed), on the west side of its center foyer, has a large, glassed-in exhibit commemorating Rockne (chiefly), as well as the other crash victims, and the crash. The facility is normally open to the traveling public, on the Turnpike, 24 hours a day, every day of the year.[3]

References

  1. ^ "FAA Registry (NC999E)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Friedman, Herbert M. Friedman and Ada Kera Friedman, "The Legacy of the Rockne Crash", Aeroplane Magazine, May 2001, U.K. - (Article provided by the University of Notre Dame Archives, posted on the website "Reflections from the Dome")
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Fans & Family Remember the Crash Heard 'Round the World, 2011, by aviation historian Richard Harris
  4. ^ a b Johnson, Randy, M.A. (Ph.D. candidate, Ohio Univ., Athens, OH; certified airline transport pilot & flight instructor), "The 'Rock': The Role of the Press in Bringing About Change in Aircraft Accident Policy.", Journal of Air Transportation World Wide, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2000, Aviation Institute, University of Nebraska at Omaha.
  5. ^ The Official Knute Rockne Web Site. URL accessed 03:54, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
  6. ^ Hoover, Herbert, President of the United States, message to Mrs. Knute Rockne, 119 - "Message of Sympathy on the Death of Knute Rockne", April 1, 1931, Washington D.C., cited on the web site of The American Presidency Project
  7. ^ a b Sudekum Fisher, Maria (2008-02-01). "J. E. Heathman; found crash that killed Rockne". Associated Press. Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
  8. ^ "The Last Flight of Knute Rockne" web page, in "Moments" section of "125 Football" website, University of Notre Dame: photos of funeral, newspaper clippings, video of Irish coach Ara Parseghian's boyhood reminiscence about the tragedy.
  9. ^ Lindquist, Sherry C.M., "Memorializing Knute Rockne at the University of Notre Dame: Collegiate Gothic Architecture and Institutional Identity", in Winterthur Portfolio, Vol_ 46, No_ 1 (Spring 2012), pp_ 1-24 on JSTOR.org
  10. ^ a b c O'Leary, Michael, "The Plane that Changed the World", Part 1., Air Classics, vol.46, no.10, Nov.2010, pp.28-48, including sidebar: "Effects of the Rockne Crash".
  11. ^ a b c d Eckert William G., (former Sedgwick County (KS) Coroner, former instructor in forensic pathology, Wichita State University, author of textbooks Introduction To Forensic Sciences , Forensic Medicine, and several others): "The Rockne crash: American commercial air crash investigation in the early years." American Journal of Forensic Medicine & Pathology, 1982 Mar;3(1):17-27.
  12. ^ a b History of Aviation Safety Oversight in the United States, DOT/FAA/AR-08/39 , Air Traffic Organization, Operations Planning, Office of Aviation Research & Development, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, DC 20591, Final Report July 2008
  13. ^ a b c d e Bryan, C.D.B, The National Air & Space Museum: , 5th printing., the Smithsonian Institution - National Air & Space Museum, Washington, DC / Harry N. Abrams, Inc., NY - 1985/1979
  14. ^ Schatzberg, Eric, (b.1956) Wings of wood, wings of metal : culture and technical choice in American airplane materials, 1914-1945, (c1999), Chapter 5: "Metal and commercial aviation i: Henry Ford takes flight," pp.96-113, on the History of Science & Technology website of the University of Wisconsin, USA
  15. ^ a b Mansfield, Harold, VISION: The Story of Boeing, Popular Library, NY, 1966
  16. ^ a b Redding, Robert and Bill Yenne, "The Flying Pullmans" in Boeing: Planemaker to the World, Bison/Crescent/Crown, Greenwich, Connecticut, USA, 1983
  17. ^ Allen, Frederick, "The Letter that Changed the Way We Fly", American Heritage of Invention & Technology, Fall 1998, with photos of the post-Rockne-crash letter from TWA president Jack Frye seeking a newer airliner (the letter that would trigger development of the DC-3).
  18. ^ [http://www.ndnation.com/boards/showpost.php?b=faq;pid=26;d=this "Rockne Crash Site Visit Information "], with contact instructions from Sue Ann (Heathman) Brown.

See also

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