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limit the duration of the fire. The blast would probably create quite a large volume of hot air which, because of the unstable conditions which exist in the neighborhood of storms, would tend to rise at a very rapid rate carrying particles, such as pieces of paper, with it. Fire and explosion at the time of impact could have been caused by gasoline coming in contact with hot parts of the engine, by breaking of electrical connections, and by metal striking rocks on the ground, creating sparks.
Examination of the wreckage disclosed that partially burned and scorched parts of the airplane were spread over a large area. These parts include the upholstery from the passenger compartment, one tire, various metal parts of the airplane's structure, and the fabric attached to the rudder and left elevator. It is necessary to determine whether these indications of fire resulted from the fire which occurred at the time of impact or a fire which had been burning prior to that time.
The evidence indicates that the marks of fire resulted from the fire at the time of impact. In many instances evidence of fire was found on one part of the airplane, while a part to which it had been attached showed no sign of fire. For example, the right tire was partially burned, but the landing gear parts to which it was attached and the wheel wells into which the landing gear wheels are retracted showed no evidence of fire. The right tire was more severely burned than any other part of the airplane. This tire was found in close proximity to the point of impact and probably collected a considerable amount of gasoline in the wheel depression as the gasoline was thrown from the fuel tanks. A short length of the upper forward part of the passenger compartment had broken in two. One of the pieces was found, with the sound-proofing partially burned and the edges where the break occurred were smoked. The side upon winch the sound-proofing was attached was down.
