Background
On December 21, 1967, Frontier Airlines was experiencing a backlog of over 100,000 pounds of air freight during the pre-holiday period. To expedite shipments, the company pressed employees and equipment into maximum service. Although Frontier did not normally use its DC-3 aircraft for all-cargo operations, the passenger seats of N65276 were removed, and the DC-3C was assigned to operate as all-cargo Flight 2610. The flight was scheduled from Stapleton International Airport in Denver, Colorado, to Rapid City, South Dakota, with an intermediate stop at Scottsbluff, Nebraska.
Pre-Flight Events
At approximately 1100 MST, the aircraft was moved from the company hangar to the airport freight terminal for loading. Around 1030, a Frontier radio communicator knowledgeable in preparing weight manifests was assigned to create the manifest for Flight 2610. He was provided with the operating and pit weight maximums for the aircraft. The dispatch office prepared a dispatch release for the flight. At 1100 and 1400, the employee contacted the freight office for specific loading information but was told both times that the information was not ready and would be provided later. When his shift ended at 1430, he still had not received the information and went off duty without informing his relief.
In the meantime, N65276 was being loaded. An air cargo service employee listed the cargo before loading and later totaled its weight. No one involved in loading recalled that the cargo was placed according to a formal preloading schedule. The first officer arrived at the air cargo office as the cargo listing was being totaled. When asked if a weight manifest was needed, he replied, "No, we have our release, that's enough." At the aircraft, some loading remained, and the first officer authorized loaders to use fuselage space originally intended for an aisle to accommodate additional cargo. The first officer boarded, took the left pilot seat, and started both engines before the captain arrived and boarded.
Departure and Takeoff
Just before taxiing, while the captain was settling in, a Frontier station agent began removing control battens and landing gear pins. As he started to remove a gear pin before the pilot signaled hydraulic pressure was up, another station agent stopped him and took over. The latter agent later stated that there was no batten on the left elevator, and he did not check the right elevator because it was customary to install the device on the left elevator when only one batten was used. After finishing, he gave the crew a departure salute and reported seeing no control movement or indication from the first officer that controls were not movable.
Flight 2610, appropriately cleared, left the loading area at 1544. At about 1559, the aircraft began its takeoff on runway 35. Weather conditions were scattered clouds at 5,000 feet, visibility 60 miles, and wind 270 degrees at 16 knots.
Accident Sequence
According to eyewitnesses, the takeoff appeared normal until after the aircraft became airborne. It then entered an increasingly steep climb attitude, reaching an estimated deck angle of 50 to 60 degrees. At approximately 300 feet above the surface, the aircraft rolled to the left and entered a steep nose-down left turning descent, crashing off the left side of the runway. The aircraft burst into flames on impact.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined the probable cause to be the failure of the crew to perform a pre-takeoff control check, resulting in takeoff with the elevators immobilized by a control batten.