About 0925 Pacific standard time on March 1, 1978, Continental Air Lines Inc., Flight 603 overran the departure end of runway at Los Angeles Inter national Airport, California, following a rejected takeoff. As the aircraft departed the wet, load-bearing surface of the runway, the left main landing gear collapsed and fire erupted from the left wing area. The aircraft aft slid to a stop about 664 feet ftom the departure end of the runway. The left side of the aircraft was destroyed. Of the 164 passengers, 2 infants, and 14 crew members aboard, 2 passengers were killed and 28 passengers and 3 crewmembers were seriously injured during the evacuation of the aircraft.
We determined that the probable cause of the accident was the sequential failure of two tires on the left main landing gear and the resultant failure of another tire on the same landing gear at a critical time during the takeoff roll. These failures resulted in the captain's decision to reject the takeoff.
Contributing to the accident was the cumlative effect of the partial loss of aircraft braking friction achievable on the wet surface which increased the accelerate-stop distance to a value greater the the available runway length. These factors prevented the captain from stopping the aircraft winthin the runway confines.
The failure of the left main landing gear and the consequent rupture of the left wing fuel tanks resulted in an intense fire which added to the severity of the accident.
As a result of its investigation of this accident, we made safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration.
