Pan Am Flight 1-10
Encyclopedia
Pan Am Flight 1-10 was a passenger flight from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 to Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport, is one of the Republic of Ireland's three primary airports along with Dublin and Cork. In 2010 around 1,750,000 passengers passed through the airport, making it the third busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin and Cork, and the fifth busiest airport on the island...

, during a flight round the world from San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

. On 15 April 1948 it crashed 725 meter (2380 feet) short of then runway 23. 10 flight crew and 20 passengers were killed in the crash. 1 passenger survived with minor injuries.

Description

"Pan Am Flight 1-10", flown with the Pan American Airways Lockheed Constellation, aircraft NC-88858 named "Clipper Empress of the Skies", departed from a London airport a 0:35am. At 1:59am it reported being to Shannon Airport that it was at the marker at Limerick Junction. She got a clearance to land on runway 23 at 2:10am but reported a missed approach ten minutes later. After getting a second clearance to land, it struck a stone fence some 725 meter (2380 feet) short of the runway, but prefectly alingned with it. The initial crash ripped the plane apart. The undercarriage and the motors were torn off while the fuselage broke into three pieces. Fire destroyed the remains of the fuselage.

Cause of the accident

The Civil Aeronautics Board investigated the crash and published her findings on 24 June 1948. She came to the following conclusion:
The flight crew had earlier reported trouble with the pilot's instrument fluorescent light. At earlier stops in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 this light had failed too, but maintenance crew in London could not solve the case due to lack of spare parts.

Shannon Airport had earlier reported a fire in her ILS
Instrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...

-system, causing the system to fail. By the time the "Clipper Empress of the Skies" arrived, the system was again fully functional.
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