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conditions with the airline equipment now in use.[1] Because of its shortness, the north-south runway is seldom used by the airline and United has forbidden its pilots to land under any conditions upon this runway.
CONDUCT OF THE FLIGHT
In seeking to determine the cause of the accident to United 21, a careful inquiry has been made into the manner in which all those who were concerned with the flight performed their various duties. We have already concluded previously in this report that the aircraft had been properly maintained and was in airworthy condition when it took off from Cleveland. We have also determined that there was no structural or mechanical failure of the aircraft or any of its equipment at least until the instant before the left wing of the aircraft dropped just prior to the crash. The question of structural or mechanical failure at this time will be discussed hereinafter. It also appears that the weather forecasting by the United States Weather Bureau and by the United meteorologists was as accurate as could be expected in the present state of the art.
From the evidence, it is clear that all air navigation facilities operated and maintained by the Civil Aeronautics Administration, including the radio range, airport localizer, radio broadcast and teletype
- ↑ Captain Richmond, who has been flying into the Chicago Municipal Airport for three years, testified that under the conditions prevailing at the time United 21 attempted to land on the northwest runway, it would be practically impossible "to bring her in and set her down, and get her in safely; because that runway is just too short for any type of landing but a normal operation". Captain Couples, speaking of the northwest runway, said: "It is entirely inadequate for this type of equipment from a safety angle." Other pilots expressed similar opinions.
