A Strange Observation..........

**rsmith6621** · 01-08-2003, 12:53 PM

With this morning crash of the USAir B-1900 the press has been sharing information about other crashes at KCLT and they have a had at least two others in the past 15 years which involved fatalitys.

I have lived within 7 miles So.of KSEA all my life and can only remember on fatal air crash that being in Dec 1974 of a Cascade Air aircraft in which 12pass and 2crew all died. The plane crashed on a rare snowy winters night into a hospital parking lot 2 miles away...the vis was down to a 1/4 and no cig, temp was 28dg.

My observation is??? why is it the same airports always seem to have these kinda mishaps. It doesnt seem to matter if the airport has high traffic volume or not.

Id like to hear your thoughts.

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**jasetraylor** · 01-08-2003, 06:53 PM

i really dont think it matters what airport it is. i think its just by chance. i doubt very seriously that the airport itself had anything to do with the crash. i may be wrong though. from what i've heard about the recent B1900 crash the airplane took off climed to about 1500-2000 ft.MSL and turned upside down and flew straight into the ground. that seems to me like its ALL the airplane. the pilot who was a woman declared an emergency to the tower but the tower couldnt had a hard time interpreting what the nature of the emergency was before it crashed

**AlaskaAV** · 01-08-2003, 07:03 PM

Had not heard that yet but suspected the same thing. An aircraft is an aircraft and an airport is an airport. When they meet and when the chips are down, it will happen no matter where.

I had suspected something mechanical happened and first thought was single engine but that would be unlikely at the altitude you quoted. Time will tell. That is a great aircraft for what it was designed to do.

Ernie

**rankin3** · 01-08-2003, 08:02 PM

Also the crash 9 years ago with the UsAir DC-9 could have been anywhere considering wind shear and other weather conditions were the main factor. I believe the captain lived and he was also under the spotlight for awhile, in this case he probably should have been since he choose to fly his plane in adverse weather conditions. That plane had a relatively soft impact if you ever get the chance to see the crash photos the plane was in fairly good condition.

My first thoughts on the crash today are an unbalanced or overloaded aircraft. If the plane was tail heavy that would explain the steep climb, unstable flight and violent stall into the ground.

Wyatt Rankin
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**FlyerJeff** · 01-08-2003, 08:06 PM

A hopsital parking lot? What a place to crash... Well, excellent service if anyone survived :-lol

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**FlyerJeff** · 01-09-2003, 01:06 AM

Sorry if that may offend anyone. Im just serious about that! What a better place to crash than a hospital parking lot, especially if you survive? Not as a pun, or a joke. Serious! :)

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**sandgate** · 01-09-2003, 06:01 AM

I think you will find that certain airports in the world attract diasters more than others due to weather phenomenon which be may more pronounced locally. Some airports are subject to excessive fog, some high-winds/wind shear, high ground locally, etc. This increases the risk to the aircraft, but only minimally so if the crew and the aircraft are up to scratch.

John

**sandgate** · 01-09-2003, 06:20 AM

Hi Wyatt,
Just felt that you might have been a little hard on the pilot of the aicraft that crashed through wind-shear/high winds. The Captain of the aircraft has reponsibility for the safety of the aircraft and it's passengers. I don't know whether this is the case today, but I know that ten years ago there was considerable pressure put on flight crews to take-off and arrive on time, and diversions were considered almost un-acceptable unless there was absolutely no alternative (passengers didn't like doing the last three hundred miles in a bus and wouldn't fly your airline again)

What you have to consider is this - the pilot wants to live just as much as anyone else.

BTW, about 30 something years ago I was at H/row airport in a storm watching the aircraft coming in, all being tossed about by strong gusts of wind. As I watches a KLM DC-8 on approach 3 miles out and about 2000 ft, it suddenly went down as if it was in an elevator, literally falling out of the sky. It stabilised just a few hundred feet above housing and four plumes of engine smoke indicated the crews efforts to get back up again. She screamed over our heads and made a hard landing on the runway.
Obviously the crew felt to be on the ground in any fashion was better than doing a go-around. This was my first, but not my only,introduction to wind-shear.

Regards

John

**rankin3** · 01-09-2003, 03:15 PM

>Hi Wyatt,
>Just felt that you might have
>been a little hard on
>the pilot of the aicraft
>that crashed through wind-shear/high winds.

I was trying to be careful in what I said there because like I said I do not know much about the outcome of the investigations towards the pilots were. I just remember the media raved about pilot error for sometime. There are many factors such as how accurate the AWOS and ATIS were at the time, what the contoller was telling the pilot so he may very well have done everything by the book and as good or better than most pilots... My guess is the guy still lost his job with USAIR though.

Wyatt Rankin
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**AlaskaAV** · 01-09-2003, 04:05 PM

Ah yes, the media word again and how they can make a mountain out of a mole hill.
I don't have the details of that accident handy but if any pilot has an accident and has done everything by the book so to speak, he would not be terminated. There is an American carrier, maybe more, that does encourage their crews to push the limits to complete the flights.

:-wave

Ernie