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Next morning, when a derrick hoisted the crumpled wreck out of 26 ft. of water, it was found on its back with right wing and motor torn off, fuselage ripped as if by a can-opener, tail shredded. Landing gear and flaps were still retracted. Inside were the bodies of the crew. Co-Pilot De Cesaro was badly mangled, but Pilot Thompson and Hostess Kimmel were only slightly hurt, had drowned. All seat belts were unfastened, indicating that passengers had remained conscious long enough to unhook them. Three passengers were found in the mud nearby, dead by drowning, showing signs of having tried to swim ashore. The other bodies had been swept away by the tide.
Four investigations started at once. It was obvious that the crash was due either to structural failure or to a pilot's error. Since no crash of a scheduled transport in recent years has been due to mechanical failure and since the plane was new and functioning correctly until an instant before the impact, most experts blamed Pilot Thompson. Best guesses: 1) that he misgauged his altitude, caught one wing tip in the Bay as he banked; 2) that he stalled during the bank, sideslipped into the Bay.
*The program: 1) adoption of radio direction finders to supplement beams; 2) installation of such homing devices on all planes; 3) better navigational training for pilots; 4) installation of an "air-log" on all planes to record altitude, use of radio beam and use of radio telephone; 5) installation of anti-rain-static loop antennae on all planes (TIME, Jan. 25); 6) regulation of radio equipment by approval certificates; 7) installation of simultaneous radio ranges on Federal airways—i.e., beams carrying weather reports and beacon signals at same time; 8) more detailed and accurate radio maps; 9) better training for blind flying; 10) improvement of airport approach lighting; 11) more safety research by the Bureau of Air Commerce.