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New Uniforms
For Stewardesses
See Page Three
VOL. XI, NO. 6
CHICAGO SERVICE STARTS DECEMBER 1
OCTOBER, 1969
PI€D
In
Piedmont's 747!
Boeing's Very First 747
Flys In Piedmonf Colors
Piedmont has become the world’s first airline to put
a Boeing 747 into service!
Astounding but true. The last of Piedmont’s twelve
Boeing 737’s, N747N, was delivered in mid-October and
went on the line the next day.
Piedmont’s N747N is not just the first Boeing 747
but the only aircraft that will have the 74 7N serial number.
Piedmont also has in its fleet the first, last and only
737 aircraft. The N737N plane was delivered in August
of last year.
Boeing says it usually happens at least once in each
aircraft model’s career that the N number, or aircraft
registration matches the model designation number.
Perhaps Piedmont’s numerology is forecasting that
we should order some 747’s!
Wayne Tucker Is Promoted To
Manager For Memphis Station
WAYNE TUCKER
Station Manager — MEM
Former Assistant Station Mana
ger at LaGuardia Wayne Tucker
tias been promoted to Manager for
Memphis.
Tucker is replacing Parker Haley
wlio resigned for personal reasons
A native of Hickory, North Caro
lina, Tucker is a graduate of Le-
noir-Rhyne College. Before joining
Piedmont as an agent at Hickory
in 1956 he served with the U. S
Coast Guard.
Tucker was chief agent at New
Bern prior to moving to LaGuardia
in 1968.
He is a member of the Masons
and is married to the former Mar
garet Sawyer of Shawboro, North
Carolina. They have two daughters
The Tuckers moved to Memphis
October 1.
NTSB Reports On
FH-227 Accident at
Charleston, W. Va.
The National Transportation
Safety Board has released its re
port on the cause of the crash of
a Piedmont Airlines Fairchild Hil
ler FH 227B on its final approach
to Kanawha County Airport,
Charleston, West Virginia, on Aug
ust 10, 1968.
Thirty-five of the 37 persons
aboard were fatally injured when
the turboprop FH 227B struck a
steep hillside 250 feet short and 33
feet below the airport after de
scending through a layer of fog.
The Safety Board determined
that the probable cause of the ac
cident was ... V
“ ... an unrecognized loss
of altitude orientation during
final portion of an approach
into shallow, dense fog. The
disorientation was caused by
a rapid reduction in the
ground guidance segment
(segment of approach lights
visible) available to the pilot
at a point beyond which a
go-around could not be suc
cessfully effected.”
Findings
The Board said its investigation
showed that the accident flight —
Piedmont Flight 230 from Louis
ville, Kentucky to Roanoke, Vir
ginia, with stops at Cincinnati and
Charleston — “was operationally
routine until the final phase of the
approach” to Charleston. The crew
was making an Instrument Land
ing System (ILS) approach to Run
way 23, and was aware that the
glide slope of the ILS was inopera
tive because of technical problems
with the automatic ILS monitoring
system.
Fog Factor
An early morning ground fog at
the airport had “severely restrict
ed” visibility in the approach zone
for Runway 23, the Board said,
but in the 15 minutes just before
the accident, visibility from the
tower had increased from one-half
mile to one mile and visibility
along the runway had increased
from zero to one and one-half
miles. The Board estimated that
at the time of the crash, a 150-foot-
thick layer of dense fog remained
over the runway threshold and
roughly the last half of the 2,800-
foot approach light system.
Some six seconds before impact,
the Board found, the flight began
“a rapid descent” which brought
the aircraft below field elevation,
into the tops of trees and down to
the initial point of impact. The
plane, catching fire, bounced back
into the air, over the hilltop at
the edge of the airport, and onto
the field beside the approach end
of Runway 23.
Reduced Visibility
Because the investigation de^
veloped “no indication of any in
flight failure, malfunction, or other
abnormality that would have
caused or contributed to an un
wanted descent,” the Safety Board
said, “the only logical conclusion
... is that some phenomenon as
sociated with the reduced visibility
upon entering the fog affected the
pilot in such a manner that he
steepened the descent to the point
where recovery could not be ef
fected.” The Board said evidence
showed an attempted pull-up 2.2
(Contiaued on Page Three)
4
4
H. M. Cartwright presents plaque to Hartman.
Inspector Hortman Awarded
Plaque For "Job Well Done''
Winston-Salem Inspector Larry
Hartman was recently recognized
by Vice-President — Maintenance
and Engineering Howard Cart
wright for an “exceptionally well
done job.”
The plaque, shown above, com
memorates the first “save” of a
JT8-D engine ‘,‘on the wing”
through horoscope inspection of the
sixth stage compressor blade roots.
This particular inspection proce
dure was instituted in mid-April.
Since that time, a total of three
“saves” have been documented for
a total saving of approximately
$150,000 in repair charges.
Piedmont also inspects the com-
busion chamber outlet duct of the
JT8-D with a flexible borescope.
Both of these horoscopes incorpo
rate the latest fiber optics tech
nology.
The specific cracked blade, now
mounted on Hartman’s plaque, was
found during a routine horoscope
inspection in September. This blade
was approaching total failure and
the discovery probably prevented
an in-flight engine failure and an
engine change in the field. The re
pair cost thus saved by Hartman’s
discovery was substantial, between
$40,000 and $60,000.
Hartman has been with Pied
mont since 1956.
Charleston, S. C., Route Is Granted;
Chicago Service Starts December 1
The Civil Aeronautics Board has
awarded Piedmont Airlines a new
route segment between Charlotte,
North Carolina and Charleston,
South Carolina.
The new authority will permit
service between Charlotte and Co
lumbia, South Carolina, points
which are already on Piedmont’s
system, into Charleston.
No definite date for the com
mencement of service has been set,
but hopefully service will be in
augurated early in 1970.
Plans Not Final
Schedules and plans for opera
tion will be announced as soon as
possible. The initial service will
probably be provided with prop-jet
aircraft.
Piedmont’s long-awaited service
to Chicago will be inaugurated on
December 1st. The Pacemaker
flights to The Windy City will be
via Midway Airport.
The initial schedule currently
lists five flights inbound, with a
total of ten Piedmont flights daily.
Six of the flights will be provided
with "Boeing 737s and four will
utilize YS-11 aircraft.
Cities that will have direct serv
ice with the first schedule include
Fayetteville, Kinston, Winston-Sa-
lem, Norfolk, Richmond, Roanoke,
Tri-Cities and Charleston and
Huntington, West Virginia. Of
these, Richmond, Huntington,
Charleston and Roanoke will have
some non-stop service.
Sales Blitz
The sales department will con
duct a concentrated blitz in Chi
cago the week of November 17th.
During this week 12 of Piedmont’s
sales reps will call on area travel
agents, other airlines and com
mercial accounts.
A pre-inaugural flight to Chicago
for press and city fathers is being
planned tentatively for November
24th.
Final plans for handling Pied
mont’s operation into Midway have
not been completed. As soon as
the arrangements are made the
plans will be announced.
In further route developments,
the examiner’s decision in the
I (Continued on Page Three)