What happened
On November 28, a Douglas DC-6 operating Flight 157 departed LaGuardia Field, New York, bound for Mexico City via Washington, D.C., and Dallas, Texas. The flight proceeded normally until the aircraft was near Nashville, Tennessee, where the number one engine began backfiring. After various attempts to correct the issue failed, the crew feathered the number one engine approximately 25 miles southwest of Nashville.
Upon approaching Love Field in Dallas, the crew decided not to attempt restarting the failed engine and prepared for landing on Runway 36. During the final approach, the aircraft became misaligned with the runway centerline. In an effort to correct this, the pilot executed an "S" turn. During this maneuver, the aircraft experienced a left skid, airspeed decreased sharply, and the plane began to sink rapidly. Despite increasing power to the remaining three engines, the aircraft entered a nose-high attitude and stalled. The plane struck a hangar and several buildings on the northwest side of the airport.
All 28 fatalities (comprising both pilots and 26 passengers) occurred during the impact.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified several critical errors in the crew's execution of the engine-out approach:
- The pilot failed to maintain alignment with the runway centerline after the final turn and attempted a high-risk corrective maneuver at a low altitude.
- Improper fuel management left approximately 1,400 pounds of excess fuel in the number one engine's tank, creating an unbalanced load that caused the left wing to drop sharply.
- The pilot used excessive rudder during the correction, leading to a skid that caused fuel to slosh away from the outlet in the number four engine, dropping fuel pressure.
- Increasing power to the right-hand engines while the left engine was feathered caused the aircraft to veer further left, worsening the loss of directional control.
- The pilot's use of excessive elevator input ultimately induced the stall.