Consolidated PBY Catalina accident at Pearl Harbor, United States of America, 18 May 1942 (05018)
On May 18, 1942, a Consolidated PBY Catalina (registration 05018) operated by United States Navy - USN was involved in an aviation accident near Pearl Harbor, United States of America in flight. 10 people were killed. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: Eye witness accounts of the events leading up to the accident indicate that the plane first got into trouble at an altitude of approximately 2,500 feet. The accident was apparently caused by the pilot conducting the check. This summary draws on records from the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A); 8 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.
Probable cause
Eye witness accounts of the events leading up to the accident indicate that the plane first got into trouble at an altitude of approximately 2,500 feet. The accident was apparently caused by the pilot conducting the check. Lt Henderson, making radical settings on the control tabs, causing the plane to assume dangerous attitudes with violent maneuvers which might have partially incapacitated the pilots from maintaining proper control. The attitude assumed by the plane when the left wing fell and the nose went down and at the same time being thrown into a right skid could well have thrown the plane into an outside turn downward. The forces exerted by such a movement could well have thrown and pinned the pilots against the top of the cockpit in which position neither of them would have been able to contact the controls. This would allow the plane to fall freely in a vertical dive as it was observed to have done.
— NTSB Determination
Accident narrative
While performing a training sortie, the seaplane went out of control and crashed into the sea off Pearl Harbor. All 10 crew members were killed. Crew: Lt Frank H. Henderson, pilot, Lt Robert L. Conrad, Acom Robert Osborn, Amm1c Bennie R. Summerlin, Amm1c Glenn A. Jamieson, Amm2c Phillip M. Campbell, Amm3c Raymond E. Fehr, Amm3c Clarence A. Stausebach, Arm3c John J. Altieri, Aom Orlando R. Smith.
Probable cause (official findings): Eye witness accounts of the events leading up to the accident indicate that the plane first got into trouble at an altitude of approximately 2,500 feet. The accident was apparently caused by the pilot conducting the check. Lt Henderson, making radical settings on the control tabs, causing the plane to assume dangerous attitudes with violent maneuvers which might have partially incapacitated the pilots from maintaining proper control. The attitude assumed by the plane when the left wing fell and the nose went down and at the same time being thrown into a right skid could well have thrown the plane into an outside turn downward. The forces exerted by such a movement could well have thrown and pinned the pilots against the top of the cockpit in which position neither of them would have been able to contact the controls. This would allow the plane to fall freely in a vertical dive as it was observed to have done.