ACCIDENT OF N68045 (46904/44)
March 1st 1978, time: 09:25 PST
NTSB report / statistics
Continental Flight 603 (Los Angeles - Honolulu) received clearance to taxi to Runway 6R at 09.01h. At 09.22h the flight was cleared to taxi into position and hold. Takeoff clearance was given a minute later, but the crew delayed the acknowledgment, because the captain thought the clearance was given too soon after a heavy jet aircraft had made its takeoff. Acceleration was normal, but while approaching the V1 speed (156kts) a loud "metallic bang" was heard, followed by a quivering. As rejeced takeoff procedures were begun, the airspeed continued to increase to 159kts. The aircraft appeared to be decellerating normally, but with 2000ft of runway remaining, the flightcrew became aware that the rate of deceleration had decreased and they believed that the aircraft would not be able to stop on the runway. The aircraft was steered to the right and departed the right corner of the runway end. About 100ft beyond the runway, the left main gear broke through the nonload-bearing tarmac surface and failed. A fire erupted in this area as the aircraft turned to the left, coming to rest 664ft from the runway end and 40ft right of the extended centreline in a 11deg left wing low and 1,3deg nose-up attitude. PROBABLE CAUSE: The sequential failure of two tyres on the left main landing gear and the resultant failure of another tyre on the same landing gear at a critical time during the take-off roll. These failures resulted in the captain's decision to reject the take-off..
Crew: 0 fatalities / 14 on board
Passengers: 2 fatalities / 186 on board
Total: 2 fatalities / 200 on board
Location: Los Angeles IAP, CA (USA)
Phase: Take-off
Nature: Scheduled Passenger
Flight: Los Angeles IAP, CA - Honolulu IAP, HI (Flightnumber 603)
Source: Aviation Safety Network / NTSB