Delta Air Lines Flight 191
Encyclopedia
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 a routine approach to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
, killing 8 of 11 crew members, 126 of 152 passengers on board, and one person on the ground. Two people also died more than 30 days after the crash, bringing the total fatalities to 137. This accident is one of the few commercial airline crashes in which the meteorological phenomenon known as microburst
-induced wind shear
was a direct contributing factor.
The accident aircraft was a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar
, a workhorse in Delta
's fleet at the time. N726DA was only six years old, having been delivered to Delta in 1979. The flight was piloted by Captain Edward "Ted" Connors, First Officer Rudolph "Rudy" Price and Second Officer Nick Nassick.
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 Connors 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 had developed in the vicinity of the airport. The flight crew noticed the isolated storms ahead, but decided to proceed through them anyway, which resulted in the aircraft getting caught in a microburst.
At about 1,500 feet (460 m) above ground level, First Officer Price mentioned to Captain Connors that he saw lightning in one of the clouds ahead.
At about 800 feet (240 m) above ground level, the aircraft's airspeed increased significantly without crew intervention. Although the aircraft was supposed to land at 149 knots IAS
(276 km/h), its airspeed instead increased to 173 knots IAS (320 km/h). Price tried to stabilize the aircraft's speed, but Connors had recognized the aircraft's speed increase as a sign of wind shear
, and he warned Price to watch the speed. Connors told Price, "You're going to lose it all of a sudden ... there it is." Suddenly, the aircraft's 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
Connors can be heard saying, "Hang on to the son of a bitch!" In addition to the sudden tailwind, the aircraft also experienced a downdraft of more than 30 feet per second. This downdraft would reverse itself several times over the final moments of the flight.
As Price struggled to maintain control of the aircraft through rapidly changing wind conditions, it was hit by a sudden sideward gust, causing a rapid roll to the right and an increase in the aircraft's angle of attack. Price attempted to regain control by pushing the aircraft's nose down to avoid a stall, but the severe wind conditions continued to force the airplane towards the ground. Its descent rate reached 5,000 feet per minute at 280 feet above ground level. Price pulled the aircraft's nose up forcefully just before impact as the captain called "TOGA" ("Take Off/Go Around"), reducing the airplane's descent rate to 10 feet per second at the initial touchdown.
The aircraft first struck the ground in a field about 6,300 feet north of the approach end of runway 17L and bounced back into the air. While crossing State Highway 114
it came down again, one of its engines striking a black 1971 Toyota Celica
. The vehicle's occupant, William Hodge Mayberry, was killed instantly. The aircraft also struck a highway light pole near its wing root, igniting the wing fuel tank, before skidding onto the airfield in Irving
, colliding with two 4-million US gallon (15,000 m³) water tanks and exploding into flames. Most of the survivors of Flight 191 were located in the rear smoking section of the aircraft, which broke free from the main fuselage before the aircraft hit the water tanks. Authorities took most of the survivors to Parkland Memorial Hospital
.
Two of the passengers who initially survived the impact died more than thirty days after the accident. On the ground, an employee of an airline who assisted in rescuing survivors was hospitalized overnight for chest and arm pains.
Delta Air Lines Flight 191 has the second-highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a Lockheed L-1011 anywhere in the world after Saudia Flight 163
.
After a long 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.
The NTSB attributed the accident to lack of the ability to detect microbursts aboard aircraft - the radar equipment aboard aircraft at the time was unable to detect wind changes, only thunderstorms. After the investigation, NASA
researchers at Langley Research Center
modified a Boeing 737-200 as a testbed for an on-board Doppler
weather radar
. The resultant airborne wind shear detection and alert system
was installed on many commercial airliners in the United States after the FAA
mandated that all commercial aircraft must have on-board windshear detection systems.
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
and in the British air accident series Black Box.
"Invisible Killer" (also known as "Slammed to the Ground") of Mayday
(Air Crash Investigation or Air Emergency) on Discovery Channel Canada
and National Geographic dramatized the disaster, and it was also shown on another Mayday
episode, American Airlines Flight 1420.
The flight number "191" has been associated with numerous crashes and incidents over the years, including the deadliest crash in United States History. It has even prompted some airlines to discontinue the use of this number. See Flight 191 (disambiguation) for more information.
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
service from Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport
Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport is an international commercial airport located in unincorporated Broward County, Florida, three miles southwest of the central business district of Fort Lauderdale...
, bound for Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving the Greater Los Angeles Area, the second-most populated metropolitan area in the United States. It is most often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX, with the letters pronounced individually...
in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, by way of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is located between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, and is the busiest airport in the U.S. state of Texas...
. On the afternoon of August 2, 1985, Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
Flight 191 crashed while on a routine approach to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is located between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, and is the busiest airport in the U.S. state of Texas...
, killing 8 of 11 crew members, 126 of 152 passengers on board, and one person on the ground. Two people also died more than 30 days after the crash, bringing the total fatalities to 137. This accident is one of the few commercial airline crashes in which the meteorological phenomenon known as microburst
Microburst
A microburst is a very localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds at the surface that are similar to, but distinguishable from, tornadoes, which generally have convergent damage. There are two types of microbursts: wet microbursts and dry microbursts...
-induced wind shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
was a direct contributing factor.
Aircraft
Lockheed L-1011
The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, commonly referred to as the L-1011 or TriStar, is a medium-to-long range, widebody passenger trijet airliner. It was the third widebody airliner to enter commercial operations, following the Boeing 747 and the McDonnell Douglas DC-10. Between 1968 and 1984, Lockheed...
, a workhorse in Delta
Delta Air Lines
Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
's fleet at the time. N726DA was only six years old, having been delivered to Delta in 1979. The flight was piloted by Captain Edward "Ted" Connors, First Officer Rudolph "Rudy" Price and Second Officer Nick Nassick.
Crash
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, a thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
formed directly in its path. The aircraft began its descent procedures over Louisiana, heading over the planned descent route. Captain Connors 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 had developed in the vicinity of the airport. The flight crew noticed the isolated storms ahead, but decided to proceed through them anyway, which resulted in the aircraft getting caught in a microburst.
At about 1,500 feet (460 m) above ground level, First Officer Price mentioned to Captain Connors that he saw lightning in one of the clouds ahead.
At about 800 feet (240 m) above ground level, the aircraft's airspeed increased significantly without crew intervention. Although the aircraft was supposed to land at 149 knots IAS
Indicated airspeed
Indicated airspeed is the airspeed read directly from the airspeed indicator on an aircraft, driven by the pitot-static system. IAS is directly related to calibrated airspeed , which is the IAS corrected for instrument and installation errors....
(276 km/h), its airspeed instead increased to 173 knots IAS (320 km/h). Price tried to stabilize the aircraft's speed, but Connors had recognized the aircraft's speed increase as a sign of wind shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
, and he warned Price to watch the speed. Connors told Price, "You're going to lose it all of a sudden ... there it is." Suddenly, the aircraft's 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
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
Connors can be heard saying, "Hang on to the son of a bitch!" In addition to the sudden tailwind, the aircraft also experienced a downdraft of more than 30 feet per second. This downdraft would reverse itself several times over the final moments of the flight.
As Price struggled to maintain control of the aircraft through rapidly changing wind conditions, it was hit by a sudden sideward gust, causing a rapid roll to the right and an increase in the aircraft's angle of attack. Price attempted to regain control by pushing the aircraft's nose down to avoid a stall, but the severe wind conditions continued to force the airplane towards the ground. Its descent rate reached 5,000 feet per minute at 280 feet above ground level. Price pulled the aircraft's nose up forcefully just before impact as the captain called "TOGA" ("Take Off/Go Around"), reducing the airplane's descent rate to 10 feet per second at the initial touchdown.
The aircraft first struck the ground in a field about 6,300 feet north of the approach end of runway 17L and bounced back into the air. While crossing State Highway 114
State Highway 114 (Texas)
State Highway 114 or SH 114 is a state highway that runs from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex westward across the state to the state border with New Mexico, where it becomes New Mexico State Road 114, which eventually ends at Elida, New Mexico at US 70/NM 330.-History:The route was originally...
it came down again, one of its engines striking a black 1971 Toyota Celica
Toyota Celica
The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of coupes made by the Japanese company Toyota. The name is ultimately derived from the Latin word coelica meaning "heavenly" or "celestial"....
. The vehicle's occupant, William Hodge Mayberry, was killed instantly. The aircraft also struck a highway light pole near its wing root, igniting the wing fuel tank, before skidding onto the airfield in Irving
Irving, Texas
Irving is a city located in the U.S. state of Texas within Dallas County. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city population was 216,290. Irving is within the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, designated...
, colliding with two 4-million US gallon (15,000 m³) water tanks and exploding into flames. Most of the survivors of Flight 191 were located in the rear smoking section of the aircraft, which broke free from the main fuselage before the aircraft hit the water tanks. Authorities took most of the survivors to Parkland Memorial Hospital
Parkland Memorial Hospital
Parkland Memorial Hospital is a hospital located at 5201 Harry Hines Boulevard, just west of Oak Lawn in Dallas, Texas . It is the main hospital of the Dallas County Hospital District and serves as Dallas County's public hospital.- History :The original hospital opened in 1894 in a wooden...
.
Two of the passengers who initially survived the impact died more than thirty days after the accident. On the ground, an employee of an airline who assisted in rescuing survivors was hospitalized overnight for chest and arm pains.
Delta Air Lines Flight 191 has the second-highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a Lockheed L-1011 anywhere in the world after Saudia Flight 163
Saudia Flight 163
Saudia Flight 163 was a scheduled passenger flight of Saudia that caught fire after takeoff from Riyadh International Airport on a flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 19 August 1980...
.
Investigation
Numerous public safety agencies responded to the crash including the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Irving Fire Department, the Irving Police Department and all available third watch personnel from the Dallas Police Department's Northwest Patrol Division and the Northeastern Sector of the Fort Worth Police Department's Patrol Division.After a long investigation, the National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
deemed the cause of the crash to be attributable to pilot error, combined with extreme weather phenomena associated with microburst-induced wind shear.
The NTSB attributed the accident to lack of the ability to detect microbursts aboard aircraft - the radar equipment aboard aircraft at the time was unable to detect wind changes, only thunderstorms. After the investigation, NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
researchers at Langley Research Center
Langley Research Center
Langley Research Center is the oldest of NASA's field centers, located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It directly borders Poquoson, Virginia and Langley Air Force Base...
modified a Boeing 737-200 as a testbed for an on-board Doppler
Pulse-doppler radar
Pulse-Doppler is a 4D radar system capable of detecting both target 3D location as well as measuring radial velocity . It uses the Doppler effect to avoid overloading computers and operators as well as to reduce power consumption...
weather radar
Weather radar
Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, estimate its type . Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the...
. The resultant airborne wind shear detection and alert system
Airborne wind shear detection and alert system
The Airborne wind shear detection and alert system, fitted in an aircraft, detects and alerts the pilot both visually and aurally of a wind shear condition. In case of reactive wind shear detection system, the detection takes place when the aircraft penetrates a wind shear condition of sufficient...
was installed on many commercial airliners in the United States after the FAA
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
mandated that all commercial aircraft must have on-board windshear detection systems.
Legacy
The crash of Delta Flight 191 was later the subject of a television movieTelevision movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
called Fire and Rain
Fire and Rain (film)
Fire and Rain is a television movie released in 1989, based on the plane crash of Delta Air Lines Flight 191 at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on August 2, 1985....
.
The crash of Delta Flight 191 was also shown on an episode of When Weather Changed History
When Weather Changed History
When Weather Changed History is a high-definition television series from The Weather Channel. It chronicles major events in history and the effect weather had on them.-Program History:...
on The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel is a US cable and satellite television network since May 2, 1982, that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news, along with entertainment programming related to weather 24 hours a day...
and in the British air accident series Black Box.
"Invisible Killer" (also known as "Slammed to the Ground") of Mayday
Mayday (TV series)
Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation in the United Kingdom, Australia and Asia and Air Emergency and Air Disasters in the United States, is a Canadian documentary television programme produced by Cineflix investigating air crashes, near-crashes and other disasters...
(Air Crash Investigation or Air Emergency) on Discovery Channel Canada
Discovery Channel Canada
Discovery Channel is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel devoted to nature, adventure, science and technology programming. Discovery Channel is currently owned by CTV Specialty Television Inc...
and National Geographic dramatized the disaster, and it was also shown on another Mayday
Mayday (TV series)
Mayday, also known as Air Crash Investigation in the United Kingdom, Australia and Asia and Air Emergency and Air Disasters in the United States, is a Canadian documentary television programme produced by Cineflix investigating air crashes, near-crashes and other disasters...
episode, American Airlines Flight 1420.
The flight number "191" has been associated with numerous crashes and incidents over the years, including the deadliest crash in United States History. It has even prompted some airlines to discontinue the use of this number. See Flight 191 (disambiguation) for more information.
Memorial
In 2010 (25 years after the accident), a memorial was installed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport's Founders Plaza.Passengers
- Don EstridgePhilip Don EstridgePhilip Donald Estridge , known as Don Estridge,led development of the original IBM Personal Computer , and thus is known as "father of the IBM PC"...
, known to the world as the father of the IBM PCIBM PCThe IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
, died aboard the flight along with his wife, Mary Ann, two IBM summer interns, and six additional family members of IBM employees.
- The August 26, 1985 issue of JetJet (magazine)Jet is an American weekly marketed toward African-American readers, founded in 1951 by John H. Johnson of Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago, Illinois...
magazine (page 7) reported that Jean Hancock, sister of famed jazz musician Herbie HancockHerbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, died aboard the flight as well. She was 41 years old.
See also
- Air safetyAir safetyAir safety is a term encompassing the theory, investigation and categorization of flight failures, and the prevention of such failures through regulation, education and training. It can also be applied in the context of campaigns that inform the public as to the safety of air travel.-United...
- Lists of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners
- MicroburstMicroburstA microburst is a very localized column of sinking air, producing damaging divergent and straight-line winds at the surface that are similar to, but distinguishable from, tornadoes, which generally have convergent damage. There are two types of microbursts: wet microbursts and dry microbursts...
- American Airlines Flight 1420American Airlines Flight 1420American Airlines Flight 1420 was a flight from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to Little Rock National Airport in USA. On June 1, 1999, a McDonnell Douglas MD-82 overran the runway upon landing in Little Rock and crashed...
- Pan Am Flight 759Pan Am Flight 759Pan Am Flight 759, operated by a Boeing 727-235, N4737 Clipper Defiance, was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from Miami to Las Vegas, with an en route stop at New Orleans...
- AIRES Flight 8250AIRES Flight 8250AIRES Flight 8250 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight which crashed on August 16, 2010 on the Colombian island of San Andrés, in the Caribbean, with two fatalities. The aircraft, an AIRES-operated Boeing 737-73V, was en-route from the Colombian capital Bogota when it crashed while attempting...
- AeroUnion Flight 302
- Martinair Flight 495
External links
- Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript
- Accident photos
- AirDisaster.com Special Report
- Pre-accident photos from Airliners.net
- DFW Delta Flight 191 - Essay from Mica Calfee, a firefighter-paramedic who responded to the crash
- NTSB executive summary report
- "Like a Wall of Napalm"
- Delta 191 In Their Words
- Advertisement for animations used in court
- Animation of the crash, indicating wind vectors and synchronized to voice recorder data (description here)
- The crash of Flight 1141/Crash resurrects memories of 1985
- Vanderbilt Television News Archive