During the load testing, using comparable bearings, three failed either at 870 pounds or lower. It was noted that all the bearings marked as “FEDERAL” had no further identification marks along the hollow shaft. Bearings marked as FAFNIR were all marked with 2P along the shank by the bottom of the attached banjo head and they all had solid shafts. [FAFNIR bearings] which were used in tests all failed at over 3,200 pounds. The ultimate or minimum load required for those bearings on the rod-ends is 1,500 pounds. The National Transport Safety Board has determined that the most likely cause of the accident was as follows: ‘Loss of control, which led to the accident, was due to catastrophic failure in the elevator’s pull-push tubing rod end bearing.

The elevator’s pull-push tube assembly was located at the crash scene with a bearing at the rod-end truly broken. The elevator pull-push tube has a rod-end bearing fitted to each end of the tube. The near bearing wasn’t broken, although it was somewhat bent, possibly due to the impact of the crash. That unbroken bearing was marked ‘FAFNIR’ along one side of its retainer, and with 2P marked along the shank side at the bottom of the banjo or outer race. That second and apparently failed rod-end bearing and its associated outer race and cage had broken in several spots. All that was leftover was a threaded shank with around one third of the bottom of the outer race and cage. It seems that the upper area to the collapsed ball bearings and its associated parts wasn’t located at all and so no ID markings could be tied into the outside race and cage. There weren’t any identifying markings along the hollow length of the shank itself.

Raised in Milo, he attended local schools, and moved to New Britain, Conn., in 1944 to begin his career in manufacturing. He was employed as a machinist and gauge setter for Fafnir Bearing, and later for Pratt & Whitney from where he retired in 1983. He and his wife made their home in Rocky Hill, Conn., in 1999. Robert was an outdoors enthusiast, who enjoyed fishing and gardening, and was a loyal fan of the Boston Red Sox and University of Connecticut Huskies basketball teams. A devoted provider for his family, he was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and will be greatly missed.