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No. 5, No. 6 and No. 10 cylinders. A fire hose was played upon the engines following the accident and since the carburetor adapter of the right engine was cracked, it is probable that the water found in the right engine came from that source.
It was the opinion of engine experts[1] at the hearing that the water found in the engines did not indicate ice accumulation in the carburetors. They stated that if there had been ice in the carburetors sufficient to interfere with the operation of the engines, the inspection would have disclosed a substantial amount of water in the blower sections whereas none was found there.
Left Engine, Serial No. 2621.
The generator, starter, and hydraulic pump of the left engine had broken loose and a corner of the carburetor adapter flange was broken off with the brace pulled loose from the rear case. The intake pipes and pushrod housings were all in place although some were badly crushed. The reduction gear housing had a crack extending from the thrust bearing seat to the attaching flange at the left of the nose section oil pump boss. On the inside, four small cracks were visible on the thrust bearing boss. The support plate assembly at the bottom showed a small crack in line with a similar crack on the nose case. The front side of the support plate bore a scar where the propeller shaft had driven back the governor drive gear indicating a rotation of about 30 to 40 degrees. The accessory drive shaft was sheared with a clean vertical break at the undercut in front of the rear splines. All
- ↑ John Lee Bunce, Engineer and Servicing Manager of the Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Division; Ray Dehority, Superintendent of Overhaul and Repair, United Air Lines; George W. Haskins, Safety Specialist, Civil Aeronautics Board.
