Boeing 707-323 accident at Edison Township, New Jersey, 9 Jan 1971

Accident narrative

On January 9, 1971, at approximately 1620 eastern standard time, American Airlines Flight 30, a Boeing 707-323, and a Linden Flight Service Cessna 150 collided at about 2,975 feet over Edison Township, New Jersey. The Boeing 707 landed safely at Newark Airport without injury to its 14 passengers and crew of seven. The Cessna 150 was demolished by the collision and subsequent ground impact, and both of its occupants received fatal injuries.

**The flights**

American Airlines Flight 30 (AA 30) was a regularly scheduled Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight from San Francisco, California, to Newark, New Jersey, departing at 1151. The flight crew consisted of Captain Robert W. Harrington, First Officer William H. Williams, and Flight Engineer George R. Isley.

The Cessna 150 departed from Linden Airport, approximately six miles southwest of Newark Airport, at approximately 1530 on a local training flight. A student pilot, Edmund Ascolese, occupied the left seat for his fifth hour of dual instruction. An instructor pilot, William K. Squires, occupied the right seat. No flight plan was filed, which was not required for Visual Flight Rules (VFR) training flights, and there was no record of air-ground communications with the Cessna.

**The sequence of events**

Newark Approach Control received a radar handoff for AA 30 while the flight was descending to 4,000 feet. At 1615:57, the approach controller cleared AA 30 to descend to 3,000 feet on a vector heading of 160°. At 1619, the controller directed AA 30 to turn right to a heading of 180° to assure adequate spacing behind preceding IFR traffic.

At 1620:05, Approach Control transmitted: "American 30, traffic at 12 o'clock less than a mile, northeast bound slow."

AA 30 replied at 1620:11: "No contact."

The cockpit voice recorder captured the Boeing crew discussing the weather conditions: "Everything sure is murky up here." "Boy it is, and I suppose it's VFR." "Well, another thousand feet down is, but I hope nobody ...."

At 1620:25, the sound of an object striking the airplane was recorded. Five seconds later, AA 30 transmitted: "We have been hit by that airplane, American 30."

Statements submitted by the Boeing 707 flight crew indicated they were scanning ahead for the reported traffic when the head-on silhouette of a small airplane suddenly became visible through the haze. The small airplane contacted the left wing of the Boeing 707 before evasive action could be initiated.

The Boeing 707 executed a series of shallow turns to determine flight control response and assess damage, landing safely at Newark Airport at 1638. The Cessna's horizontal tail surfaces separated from the main fuselage during the collision, causing the airplane to become uncontrollable.

**What the investigation found**

Matching impact marks disclosed that the collision occurred between the left wing of the Boeing 707, outboard of the No. 1 engine, and the nose gear, horizontal tail surfaces, and lower aft fuselage of the Cessna 150. The aircraft were headed toward each other when the collision occurred. A control counterweight separated from the Cessna's right elevator and penetrated the roof of a private residence in Edison Township.

The collision occurred within an area designated by Linden Flight Services, Inc. as a student training area, where training flights had been advised by the school to remain below 3,000 feet. The Board noted that no regulatory authority had been exercised by the FAA in establishing this area, and the Newark Approach controller had no official documents apprising him of its location. The Board considered that the establishment of a student training area in an approach path to a major airport was not commensurate with safe operating practices.

The Newark Airport special weather observation at 1619 recorded a measured ceiling of 2,300 feet broken clouds, 8,000 feet overcast, and surface visibility of 8 miles. However, pilots operating in the area estimated cloud bases ranging from 3,500 to 2,000 feet, with flight visibility restricted below the clouds ranging from 3 miles to less than 1 mile. Because of this disparity, the Board was unable to ascertain the specific distance the Cessna pilot was maintaining from clouds when the collision occurred.

The Boeing 707's flight data recorder indicated the collision occurred at an altitude of 2,975 feet, on a magnetic heading of 178°, at an indicated airspeed of 176 knots. The Board found that the Boeing 707 crew did not deviate from their assigned altitude of 3,000 feet. Because the Boeing 707 did not have automatic altitude reporting capability, the approach controller relied upon the pilot to maintain the assigned altitude. After issuing the traffic advisory, the controller diverted his attention to other IFR traffic and did not observe the targets merge on the radarscope.

Laboratory analysis of a visor-type instrument flying hood found in the wreckage disclosed hair and blood samples matching the student pilot. The Board suggested the probability that the student was operating under the hood at the time of the collision. While the instructor's forward visibility would not have been obstructed by the student's visor, the Board noted his attention was probably divided between monitoring the student's performance and scanning for other traffic.

**Probable cause**

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was "the inability of the crews of both aircraft to see and avoid each other while operating in a system which permits VFR aircraft to operate up to 3,000 feet on random headings and altitudes in a congested area under conditions of reduced visibility. An additional causal factor was the designation of a student flight training area in a congested control area under marginal flight visibility conditions."