Pacific American Airlines

Pacific American Airlines was a United States charter airline headquartered in Burbank, California.^[1] Its predecessor was formed in 1946 as Mercer Airlines and, when DeWight W. Mercer sold the company, was renamed Pacific American in 1976.^[1] The airline provided interstate passenger and cargo charter services as well as contract services for the United States Navy in the Pacific area. It has since ceased operations.^[1]

Accidents and incidents

• On August 4, 1972, a Mercer Airlines Douglas DC-3, registration N31538, suffered an in-flight engine fire shortly after takeoff from Naval Air Station Point Mugu on a repositioning flight to Hollywood-Burbank Airport. The aircraft departed the runway in the emergency landing and was severely damaged by the subsequent fire. All three people on board survived.^[2]
• On February 8, 1976, a Pacific American Airlines Douglas YC-112A (prototype of the DC-6 series), registration N901MA, experienced the separation of its no. 3 engine shortly after takeoff from Hollywood-Burbank Airport. The one of engine's propeller blades passed through the fuselage and severed pneumatic, hydraulic, and emergency airbrake lines as well as the electrical wiring for Curtiss electric propeller controls and some engine instruments. The blade continued out of the fuselage and struck the no. 2 engine, disabling its lube oil scavenge pump and causing it to begin filling with oil. After an abortive attempt to land at Burbank, which became a touch-and-go when the crew discovered that hydraulic brakes, thrust reverse, and emergency air brakes were all inoperative, the captain elected to attempt an emergency landing on the longer, uphill Runway 34L at Van Nuys. Because of severe damage resulting in loss of power from the No. 2 engine, a bare firewall where the No. 3 engine had separated, and drag from the drooping landing gear and flaps, the airplane was unable to make it to the runway and attempted to land on a golf course in the final approach corridor. The nose of the aircraft struck a 24-inch (61 cm) concrete foundation of a partially constructed building, separating the nose gear main trunnion and jamming the gear assembly up into the cockpit. The three flight crew members aboard the aircraft perished, although the two stewardesses and a baggage handler in the cabin survived.^[3]

References