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Delta Air Lines Flight 191

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Delta Air Lines Flight 191
Occurrence
DateAugust 2, 1985
SummaryMicroburst-induced Wind shear
SiteDallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Irving, Texas
Aircraft typeLockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar
OperatorDelta Air Lines
RegistrationN726DAdisaster[1]
Flight originFort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
StopoverDallas-Fort Worth International Airport
DestinationLos Angeles International Airport
Passengers152
Crew11
Fatalities135 (1 on the ground)
Injuries27
Survivors29

Delta Air Lines Flight 191 was an airline service from Fort Lauderdale, Florida's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, bound for Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, by way of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. On the afternoon of August 2, 1985, Delta Air Lines flight 191 crashed while on approach to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, killing 8 of 11 crew members and 126 of the 152 passengers on board and one person on the ground: a total of 135 deaths. This accident is one of the few commercial air crashes in which the meteorological phenomenon known as microburst-induced wind shear was a direct contributing factor.

Aircraft

A Delta Air Lines L1011

The airplane used on that day was N726DAdisaster[2], a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar, a workhorse in Delta's fleet at the time. The flight was piloted by Captain Edward "Ted" Conners[3], First Officer Rudolph Price and Second Officer Nick Nassick.

Crash

NTSB map indicating locations of passengers according to lack of injury, types of injuries, and deaths

As the aircraft flew over Louisiana, a thunderstorm formed directly in its path. The aircraft began its descent procedures over Louisiana, heading over the planned descent route. Captain Conners then recognized the forming thunderstorm and took action to change the plane's heading to avoid the turbulent weather.

At Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, weather was also poor and an Isolated thunderstorm developed near DFW. The Captain and copilot noticed the isolated storm ahead, but decided to proceed through it anyway which resulted in the aircraft getting caught up in a microburst.

At about 1500 feet above ground level (460 m), First Officer Price reported seeing lightning in one of the clouds ahead.

At 800 feet (240 m) above ground level, the aircraft airspeed accelerated without crew intervention. Although it was supposed to land at 149 knots IAS (276 km/h), it accelerated instead to 173 knots IAS (320 km/h). Price tried to stabilize the aircraft's speed, but Conners had recognized the aircraft's speed increase as a sign of wind shear, and he warned Price to watch the speed. Suddenly, the airspeed dropped from 173 to 133 knots IAS (320 to 246 km/h), and Price pushed the throttles forward, giving temporary lift. The airspeed then suddenly dropped to 119 knots IAS (220 km/h); on the cockpit voice recording Conners can be heard saying "Hang on to the son of a bitch!"

When Price tried to avoid a stall by pushing the nose down, the aircraft's vertical speed increased to 1,700 ft/min (520 m/min) before it came into contact with the ground.

Delta Flight 191 first impacted the ground on a field about 6,300 feet north of the approach end of runway 17L and bounced back into the air, then, while crossing State Highway 114, it came down again on top of a vehicle, killing its occupant, Richard Mabry. The aircraft skidded onto the airfield in Irving, collided with two 4-million US gallon (15,000 m³) water tanks at a speed of 220 knots, and exploded into flames. Most of the survivors of Flight 191 were located in the rear section of the aircraft which broke free from the main fuselage before the aircraft hit the water tanks.

Most of the survivors sat in the smoking section. Authorities took most of the survivors to Parkland Memorial Hospital[3].

Two of the passengers who initially survived the impact died more than 30 days after the accident. On the ground, an airline employee who assisted the rescue of the passengers became hospitalized overnight after feeling chest and arm pains.[4]

Investigation

After a lengthy investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board deemed the cause of the crash to be attributable to pilot error, combined with extreme weather phenomena associated with microburst-induced wind shear.[5][4]

The crash of Delta Flight 191 was later the subject of a television movie called Fire and Rain.

The crash of Delta Flight 191 was also shown on an episode of When Weather Changed History on The Weather Channel.

"Slammed to the Ground" of Mayday (Air Crash Investigation or Air Emergency) on Discovery Channel Canada and National Geographic dramatized the disaster.

Passengers

  • Don Estridge, known to the world as the father of the IBM PC, died aboard this flight along with his wife, Mary Ann[6], two IBM summer interns, and six additional family members of IBM employees.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "FAA Registry (N726DA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  2. ^ "FAA Registry (N726DA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  3. ^ a b "Like a Wall of Napalm". TIME.
  4. ^ a b "Aircraft Accident Report" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board.
  5. ^ "Probable Cause of Delta Air Lines Flight 191 Crash". National Transportation Safety Board. Retrieved 2006-08-27.
  6. ^ "Slammed To The Ground." Mayday.
  7. ^ "PHILIP ESTRIDGE DIES IN JET CRASH; GUIDED IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER." The New York Times.

32°55′06″N 97°01′25″W / 32.91833°N 97.02361°W / 32.91833; -97.02361 Template:Mayday NavBox

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