AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS FAILING BRAKES The Crash of TAM Linhas Aereas Flight JJ3054


Book Description

On 17 July 2007, at 17:19 local time, an Airbus A-320, operated as flight JJ3054 by TAM Linhas Aéreas, was on its way from Porto Alegre, Brazil, for a domestic flight to Congonhas Airport in São Paulo city, São Paulo State, Brazil. During the landing, at 18:54 local time, the aircraft veered to the left, overran the left edge of the runway, collided with a building, and with a fuel service station. All persons on board - six crewmembers, and 181 passengers - perished. The crash also caused 12 fatalities on the ground. The runway had recently been resurfaced, but it did not yet have water-channeling grooves cut into it to reduce the danger of hydroplaning, making landing during rain a dangerous endeavour. Flight Data Recorder information showed that immediately prior to touchdown, both thrust levers were in CL (or "climb") position, with engine power being governed by the flight computer's autothrottle system.




AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS GHOSTS? The Crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401


Book Description

On December 29, 1972 an Eastern Air Lines' Lockheed L-1011, as Flight 401 on its way from John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York, to Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, crashed at 2342 eastern standard time in the Everglades, approximately 18 miles west northwest of Miami International Airport. The aircraft was destroyed. There were 163 passengers and a crew of 13 aboard the aircraft, 99 people died in the crash. The flight was diverted because of problems with the nose landing gear The aircraft climbed to 2,000 feet while the crew attempted to correct the problem. Surviving passengers and crewmembers stated that the flight was routine and operated normally before impact with the ground. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident, was preoccupation with a malfunction of the nose landing gear position indicating system distracted the crew's attention from the instruments and allowed the descent to go unnoticed.




AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS FATIGUE? The Crash of Federal Express Flight 1478


Book Description

On July 26, 2002, about 0537 eastern daylight time, Federal Express flight 1478, a Boeing 727-232F, on its way from Memphis International Airport to Tallahassee Regional airport, struck trees on short final approach and crashed short of runway 9 at the Tallahassee Regional Airport, Florida. The flight was operating as a scheduled cargo flight from Memphis, to Tallahassee. The captain, first officer, and flight engineer were seriously injured, and the airplane was destroyed by impact and resulting fire. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the crew's failure to establish and maintain a proper glidepath during the night visual approach to landing. Contributing to the accident was a combination of the captain's and first officer's fatigue, the crew's failure to monitor the approach, and the first officer's color vision deficiency.




AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS - Loss of Cargo Door - The Near Crash of United Airlines Flight 811


Book Description

On February 24, 1989, United Airlines flight 811, a Boeing 747-122, lost a cargo door as it was climbing between 22,000 and 23,000 feet after taking off from Honolulu, Hawaii, en route to Sydney, Australia with 355 persons aboard. As a result of the incident nine of the passengers were ejected from the airplane and lost at sea. The cargo door was recovered in two pieces from the ocean floor at a depth of 14,200 feet on September 26 and October 1, 1990. The probable cause of this accident was a faulty switch or wiring in the door control system. Contributing to the cause of the accident was a deficiency in the design of the cargo door locking mechanisms. Also contributing to the accident was a lack of timely corrective actions by Boeing and the FAA following a 1987 cargo door opening incident on a Pan Am B-747.




AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS DEATH IN THE POTOMAC The Crash of Air Florida Flight 90


Book Description

On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90, a Boeing 737-222, was a scheduled flight to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, from Washington National Airport, Washington, D.C. There were 74 passengers and 5 crewmembers on board. The flight was delayed about 1 hour 45 minutes due to a moderate to heavy snowfall. Shortly after takeoff the aircraft crashed at 1601 e.s.t. into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River and plunged into the ice-covered river, 0.75 nmi from the departure end of runway 36. Four passengers and one crewmember survived the crash. Four persons in the vehicles on the bridge were killed; four were injured. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flightcrew's failure to use engine anti-ice during ground operation and takeoff, and to take off with snow/ice on the airfoil surfaces of the aircraft. Contributing to the accident were the ground delay between de-icing and takeoff clearance.




AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS, LOST OVER THE ATLANTIC The Crash of Air France Flight 447 THE FINAL REPORT


Book Description

On 31 May 2009, the Airbus A330 flight AF 447 took off from Rio de Janeiro Gale o airport bound for Paris Charles de Gaulle. At around 2 h 02, the Captain left the cockpit for a short nap. At around 2 h 08, at flight level 350, the crew made a course change of 12 degrees to the left, to avoid bad weather. At 2h 10min 05, likely following the obstruction of the Pitot probes by ice crystals, the speed indications were incorrect and some automatic systems disconnected. The aeroplane's flight path was not controlled by the two copilots. They were rejoined 1 minute 30 later by the Captain, while the aeroplane was in a stall situation that lasted until the impact with the sea at 2 h 14 min 28 s, killing all 228 persons on board. It took almost two years to recover the wreck of the aircraft from a depth of 4.000 metres. The accident resulted from a succession of events, such as inconsistency between the measured airspeeds, inappropriate control inputs, and the crew's failure to diagnose the stall situation




AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS, GROSS NEGLIGENCE KILLS 151, The Crash of Union des Transports Aeriens de Guinee Flight GHI 141


Book Description

On 25 December 2003, Union des Transport A riens de Guin e Flight GIH 141, a Boeing 727-223, on a flight from Conakry (Guinea) to Kufra (Libya), Beirut (Lebanon) and Dubai (United Arab Emirates) stopped over at Cotonou, Republic of Benin. During takeoff the overloaded airplane, was not able to climb properly and struck an airport building on the extended runway centerline, and crashed onto the beach and ended up in the ocean, killing 151 of the 163 people on board. The cause of the accident was the difficulty for the flight crew to rotate with an overloaded airplane with an unknown center of gravity. This in combination with the facts that the operator of the airline lacked any competence regarding organization and regulatory documentation, which made it impossible to correctly load and check the loading of the airplane, and the inadequacy of the supervision exercised by the Guinean civil aviation authorities in the context of safety oversight.




AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS - CRACKED SOLDER JOINT - The Crash of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501


Book Description

On 28 December 2014 an Airbus A320-216 aircraft registered as PK-AXC was cruising at 32,000 feet on a flight from Juanda Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia to Changi Airport, Singapore with total occupants of 162 persons. The Pilot in Command (PIC) acted as Pilot Monitoring (PM) and the Second in Command (SIC) acted as Pilot Flying (PF). The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) recorded that many master cautions activated following the failure of the Rudder Travel Limiter which triggered Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitoring (ECAM) message of AUTO FLT RUD TRV LIM SYS. The crew tried repeatedly to reset the computers but the autopilot and auto-thrust disengaged and the flight control reverted to Alternate Law. The investigation showed that the loss of electricity and the RTLU failure were caused by a cracked solder joint. All occupants of the plane were killed in the accident.




AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS - Runway Overrun American Airlines Flight 1420 - Killing 11 Persons In Little Rock


Book Description

On June 1, 1999, at 2350:44 central daylight time, American Airlines flight 1420, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-82, crashed after it overran the end of runway 4R during landing at Little Rock National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas. The flight originated from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, Texas. There were 145 persons on board. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. The captain and 10 passengers were killed; 120 crewmembers and passengers received serious or minor injuries; and 24 passengers were not injured. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable causes were the flight crew's failure to discontinue the approach when severe thunderstorms.




Air Crash Investigations: Hard Landing Kills 9, the Crash of Turkish Airlines Flight TK 1951 on Amsterdam Schiphol Airport


Book Description

On 25 February 2009 a Boeing 737-800, flight TK1951, operated by Turkish Airlines was flying from Istanbul in Turkey to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. There were 135 people on board. During the approach to the runway at Schiphol airport, the aircraft crashed about 1.5 kilometres from the threshold of the runway. This accident cost the lives of four crew members, and five passengers, 120 people sustained injuries. The crash was caused by a malfunctioning radio altimeter and a failure to implement the stall recovery procedure correctly.