On April 4, 1955, a United Airlines Douglas DC-6 crashed (similar aircraft pictured) shortly after taking off from Long Island MacArthur Airport, in the U.S. community of Ronkonkoma in Islip, New York. The aircraft, named Mainliner Idaho, began banking to the right after takeoff, then swerved 90 degrees, nosedived, and hit the ground, killing all three crewmembers. An investigation found that they had been simulating an engine failure on an instrument rating check flight, but had pulled back the throttle lever for engine No. 4 too far, causing the propeller blades to reverse, a feature normally used only to slow the aircraft during landing. They had also failed to raise a metal flag in the cockpit that would have allowed the blades to return to the proper position during flight. Investigators from the Civil Aeronautics Board concluded that crew lost control of the aircraft when they applied full power to No. 4 engine, and that the sudden bank and dive left the crew little time to recover from their mistake. After the investigation, the Civil Aeronautics Administration issued an Airworthiness Directive ordering all United Douglas DC-6 and DC-6B aircraft to be fitted with a manual device to prevent the inadvertent reversal of the blades.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1955_MacArthur_Airport_United_Airlines_crash
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1660:
Charles II of England issued the Declaration of Breda, describing his conditions for the Restoration of the crown of England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_of_Breda
1814:
Napoleon abdicated as Emperor of the French and named his son Napoleon II to replace him. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_II
1841:
William Henry Harrison became the first U.S. President to die in office, 32 days into his term, sparking a brief constitutional crisis regarding questions of presidential succession that were left unanswered by the U.S. Constitution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Harrison
1945:
World War II: The U.S. Third Army captured the German city of Kassel after three days of fighting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kassel_(1945)
1990:
The current flag of Hong Kong was adopted for post-colonial use during the Third Session of the Seventh National People's Congress. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Hong_Kong
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
roundabout: Indirect, circuitous or circumlocutionary; that does not do something in a direct way. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/roundabout
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The allotted function of art is not, as is often assumed, to put across ideas, to propagate thoughts, to serve as an example. The aim of art is to prepare a person for death, to plough and harrow his soul, rendering it capable of turning to good. --Andrei Tarkovsky https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Andrei_Tarkovsky