-9-
60-foot poles just north of the east end of the No. 1 runway, by the accumulation of mud on the No. 1 runway about 1,500 feet from its east end and by the filling of a low area in the southeast portion of the airport.
The Flight
Trip 9 was scheduled to leave the Chicago Municipal Airport at 12:40 P.M. (CST) on December 11, 1940, and, in accordance with regular company procedure, was cleared by the company flight superintendent at Chicago for an instrument flight to St. Louis. The clearance was based on current sequence weather reports, United States Weather Bureau weather forecasts, and a trip forecast made by the company meteorologist. The pilot's flight plan stated that he would climb to an altitude of 6,000 feet and the flight was cleared to cruise at that altitude by Airway Traffic Control at Chicago. The estimated time of arrival at Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Airport was 2:12 P.M. and Memphis, Tennessee, was designated as the alternate airport.
Available weather reports showed that a general overcast condition prevailed over the entire route between Chicago and St. Louis with an area of precipitation from Joliet, Illinois, (about 30 miles southwest of Chicago) south. The ceiling at Chicago was estimated to be 1,800 feet and visibility three-fourths of a mile with moderate smoke. Intermediate weather at Peoria and Springfield, Illinois, indicated average ceilings of 600 to 700 feet and visibility about one and one-fourth miles. The ceiling at St. Louis was estimated to be 600 feet with scattered clouds at 400 feet, light rain, and
