1957 Philippine Air Lines DHC-3 Otter crash

1957 Philippine Air Lines DHC-3 Otter crash

A DHC-3 Otter similar to the accident aircraft
Accident
Date	December 11, 1957
Summary	Stalled and crashed after takeoff due to improper loading distribution aggravated by strong winds
Site	near Labo Airport, Ozamiz City, Philippines
Aircraft
Aircraft type	de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter
Operator	Philippine Air Lines
Registration	PI-C55
Flight origin	Labo Airport, Ozamiz City, Philippines
Destination	Pagadian Airport, Pagadian, Philippines
Passengers	11
Crew	1
Fatalities	2
Injuries	10
Survivors	10

On December 11, 1957, a Philippine Air Lines DHC-3 Otter registered as PI-C55 was a domestic flight scheduled to fly from Labo Airport, Ozamiz to Pagadian Airport, Pagadian when it stalled and crashed 2 minutes after takeoff from Labo.

Aircraft

The aircraft was a de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter and was one of the six Otters delivered to Philippine Air Lines in October 1956. Before delivery it was used by TAG Airlines as part of their advertisement campaign.

It was flown to Downsview, Toronto before being disassembled and shipped to Manila, Philippines where it would be re-assembled and used by Philippine Air Lines as part of their "Rural Air Service".

Accident

PI-C55 departed from Labo Airport at 13:10 PHT with 9 passengers, including 2 infants, but with only one pilot, bound for Pagadian Airport. The aircraft had a normal takeoff and climb, however upon climbing past 75 feet, it was seen on a steep climb and banked left, before stalling and hitting two trees, crashing nose-down in a coconut plantation less than 1 km from the runway threshold.

A fire started immediately, and the pilot and one passenger were killed.

Wreckage

The fuselage from the firewall up to the radio equipment was completely destroyed by fire. The engine together with the mount and the propeller were detached from the firewall, and the propeller's blades were bent. The generator was also detached from the mounting base.

The left and right wings were burned about 3 feet from the wing roots, and the right outboard flap and aileron both detached from the aircraft.

Coconut fibres were found embedded within some of the engine cylinders as it struck coconut trees as it crashed.

The clock was found and indicated 13:12. The indication of the fuel temperature gauge read zero, and the oil temperature gauge read 28°. The flaps were extended.

Investigation and cause

The Civil Aeronautics Administration of the Philippines investigated the crash.

The flight manifest showed that the DHC-3 carried a total load of 804 kg (535 kg totalling passengers and 269 kg of cargo), however after checks were made, it was revealed that the manifest did not reflect the correct weights of the actual load including the passengers' weight, and didn't include hand-carried luggage.

Airline porters testified that all the cargo except for a few stacks of newspapers and a bundle of electrical equipment were loaded in the rear cargo compartment.

With the cargo load and most of the passengers being situated at the rear of the aircraft, it was determined that the aircraft's centre of gravity limit had been exceeded, resulting in the pilot unable to maintain stability of the aircraft shortly after becoming airborne, being further exacerbated by cross winds, gusty air and the ambient temperatures at the time of the crash.

Aftermath

The Board recommended to Philippine Air Lines to temporarily suspend their DHC-3 Otter operations until a re-evaluation of the airline operations was conducted to satisfy the CAA. This involved associated activities of the traffic, operations and maintenance departments of the airline.

Following this recommendation, PAL voluntarily suspended Otter operations on December 24, 1957, and was later permitted by the CAA to resume operations in February 1958 after the recommendation was satisfied.