User:RecycledPixels/sandbox/Pan Am Flight 7

Pan Am Flight 7
Pan Am Flight 7 was an around-the-world flight originating in San Francisco that flew westbound with several planned stops, ultimately scheduled to arrive in Philadelphia. On the morning of November 8, 1957, the aircraft serving the flight, a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser named Clipper Romance Of The Skies, registration N90944, departed San Francisco on its first leg to Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. It never arrived.

Dates

 * November 8, 1957 - Accident
 * January 15, 1958 - CAB Hearings in San Francisco's Sir Francis Drake Hotel, took 2 days
 * April 8, 1958 - Audio Recording sent to CAB
 * September 1958 - Examiner reports insurance investigation, William Payne
 * January 20, 1959 - Final Report released

Continuing investigations
After the public hearings by the Civil Aeronautics Board concluded, engineers from the Dictaphone Corporation offered to study the audio recordings of the distress calls that had been heard before. After two weeks of analysis, the company produced a transcript of what they described as not only a mayday call, but also conversation between the crew over an open microphone. "SO 292 Special Number and Flyer. [Also understood as “…number on fire.”]

Attention All Stations Pan American Air.

Verification Channel Bearing 11.

Still have one tank full. Am ditching flight.

CQ, CQ, Syracuse, New York.

J arm is missing, tail.

[Voice different than position report.]

Did you chart me? [Inaudible]… Special position.

[Same voice as position report.] Fuel control—3, 4, 5, 6,

Zero 2 fuel flow! Zero 2 fuel flow! Coordinate. [Two voices speaking excitedly.] What about 3 engine?"

- Transcript provided by Dictaphone Corporation

The audio transcript was provided to the CAB on April 8, 1959. CAB investigators conducted a surprise visit to Pan American's maintenance facility in San Francisco and reported that "inspection and/or quality control in the engine overhaul is not adequate... Maintenance practices are questionable." Aircraft maintenance logs that had been provided during the public hearings showed that there had been reports of the aircraft experiencing mechanical problems including fluctuations in the engine oil pressure, turbocharger leaks, and repeated cooling problems.

Additional searches of Pan American documentation years after the accident revealed that Pan Am investigators were suspicious of Eugene Crosthwaite, the purser on the lost plane. Described as suicidal and angry with his employers, he reportedly showed a relative some blasting powder days before the flight. His wife Julia had died three months before the flight. He made a last-minute change to his will to disinherit his 17-year-old stepdaughter and left it in the glove compartment of his car at the airport. Despite the company's suspicions, FBI investigators found no reason to suspect him and rejected the company's calls to conduct further investigations.