Tuesday, July 2, 2013

On this date: 1994 - Air Disaster

On this date in 1994, USAir Flight 1016, an MD DC-9-31, carrying five crew and 52 passengers crashed on approach to Charlotte-Douglas Airport, North Carolina.  The aircraft, powered by two Pratt & Whitnet JT8D-7B engines, departed Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina on schedule for a 35 minute flight. On approach to Charlotte, two severe weather cells formed in the area of the airport resulting in a number of course corrections initiated by both the control tower and pilots.

Source: http://goo.gl/cM64M

Having flown into severe weather, the aircraft encountered severe winds. The cockpit crew decided to abort the approach and do a go-around. Shortly after the aborted approach, a wind shear associated with a microburst occurred causing the aircraft to strike the ground. The investigation determined that the aircraft failed to maintain proper attitude and thrust for an aborted flight and that there were inadequate wind shear warnings from the tower. The crash resulted 37 fatalities passenger fatalities and no crew fatalities.


Sources
http://goo.gl/oHycN

--
Steven Kuhr
Emergency Management Nexus
Disaster History
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