Southern Airways Flight 242
Encyclopedia
Southern Airways Flight 242 was a DC-9-31
jet, registered N1335U, that executed a forced landing
on a highway in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia
, United States after suffering hail
damage and losing thrust on both engines in a severe thunderstorm
on April 4, 1977.
At the time of the accident, the Southern Airways
aircraft was flying from Huntsville, Alabama
to Atlanta, Georgia
. Sixty-three people on the aircraft (including the flight crew) and nine people on the ground died; twenty passengers survived, as well as the two flight attendant
s. One passenger who initially survived died about a month later.
es along their general route prior to their departure from Huntsville
, but they were not subsequently told that the cells had since formed a squall line
. The flight crew had flown through that same area from Atlanta earlier in the day, encountering only mild turbulence and light rain.
The weather system had greatly intensified in the meantime. The peak convective activity was later shown on ground radar
to be near Rome, Georgia
, to which the flight was cleared to proceed by air traffic control
. The crew attempted to pick out a path through the cells depicted on their onboard weather radar display, but they were apparently misled by the radar's attenuation effect and they proceeded toward what they believed was a low intensity area, when in fact it was the peak convective activity point, attenuated by rain.
As the aircraft descended from its cruise altitude of 17,000 feet to 14,000 feet near Rome VOR
, it apparently entered a thunderstorm cell and encountered a massive amount of water and hail
. The hail was intense enough to break the aircraft's windshield, and due to the ingestion of both water and hail, both engines were damaged and underwent flameout
.
The crew attempted unsuccessfully to restart the engines, gliding down unpowered while simultaneously trying to find an emergency landing field within range. Air traffic control suggested Dobbins Air Force Base, about 20 miles east, as a possible landing site, but it was beyond reach. Cartersville Airport
, a general aviation
airport about 15 miles north with a much shorter runway intended for light aircraft
was considered, but it was behind the aircraft and now out of reach. As the aircraft ran out of altitude and options, gliding with a broken windshield and no engine power, the crew made visual contact with the ground and spotted a straight section of a rural highway below. They executed an unpowered forced landing
on that road, but during the rollout the aircraft collided with a gas station/grocery store and other structures. The flight crew and 60 passengers were killed due to impact forces and fire, but 19 of the passengers survived, as well as both flight attendants. Eight people on the ground died. One passenger initially survived the crash but died on June 5, 1977. A seriously injured person on the ground died around one month later. The NTSB defined their injuries as serious, as the agency defined a fatal injury as one that occurs within seven days of the accident. Among the fatally injured passengers was rhythm and blues
singer Annette Snell
.
The NTSB also included the following Contributing Factors:
Francis H. McAdams
, one of the four NTSB members, dissented with the other members and filed the following Probable Cause in the same report:
McAdams also added the following Contributing Factor:
The NTSB noted in its report that despite the fact that the flight crew did not communicate with the cabin crew during the emergency sequence, the flight attendants nevertheless on their own initiative briefed and prepared the passengers for an emergency landing as the plane glided down. Just prior to touchdown, with no prior notice or cue from the flight crew that the plane was about to crash land, the flight attendants "saw trees" in the windows, and immediately yelled to the passengers a final "grab your ankles!" command. The flight attendants also helped evacuate the passengers from the burning plane after the crash landing. The NTSB concluded that:
Purl wrote the book Am I Alive? about the experience and is a motivational speaker. In her book, she tells the story of the crash and the history of critical incident stress management's entry into the aviation industry.
-Acworth
Highway (Georgia State Route 381). The small Georgia community of New Hope, in Paulding County, where a memorial/reunion was held by survivors and family members 20 years after the accident in 1997, still appears on maps as of 2006. The site is 11 miles from Cartersville Airport
and 15.5 miles from Dobbins AFB. Cornelius Moore Field, between Cedartown
and Rockmart
, was about 20.5 miles behind them at the time of the crash.
show Mayday
(known as Air Emergency in the US, Mayday in Ireland and Air Crash Investigation in the UK and the rest of world). The episode is entitled "Cruel Skies".
McDonnell Douglas DC-9
The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is a twin-engine, single-aisle jet airliner. It was first manufactured in 1965 with its maiden flight later that year. The DC-9 was designed for frequent, short flights. The final DC-9 was delivered in October 1982.The DC-9 was followed in subsequent modified forms by...
jet, registered N1335U, that executed a forced landing
Emergency landing
An emergency landing is a landing made by an aircraft in response to a crisis which either interferes with the operation of the aircraft or involves sudden medical emergencies necessitating diversion to the nearest airport.-Types of emergency landings:...
on a highway in New Hope, Paulding County, Georgia
Paulding County, Georgia
Paulding County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 142,324. The county seat is Dallas....
, United States after suffering hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
damage and losing thrust on both engines in a severe 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...
on April 4, 1977.
At the time of the accident, the Southern Airways
Southern Airways
Southern Airways was a regional airline operating in the United States from its founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979 when it merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines, which on October 1, 1986, became part of Northwest Airlines, which in 2008 became a part of Delta Air...
aircraft was flying from Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
to Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. Sixty-three people on the aircraft (including the flight crew) and nine people on the ground died; twenty passengers survived, as well as the two flight attendant
Flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety and comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights, on select business jet aircraft, and on some military aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant derives from that of similar...
s. One passenger who initially survived died about a month later.
Accident sequence
The flight crew, consisting of captain Bill McKenzie and co-pilot Lyman Keele, was advised of the presence of embedded thunderstorms and possible tornadoTornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
es along their general route prior to their departure from Huntsville
Huntsville, Alabama
Huntsville is a city located primarily in Madison County in the central part of the far northern region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Huntsville is the county seat of Madison County. The city extends west into neighboring Limestone County. Huntsville's population was 180,105 as of the 2010 Census....
, but they were not subsequently told that the cells had since formed a squall line
Squall line
A squall line is a line of severe thunderstorms that can form along or ahead of a cold front. In the early 20th century, the term was used as a synonym for cold front. It contains heavy precipitation, hail, frequent lightning, strong straight-line winds, and possibly tornadoes and waterspouts....
. The flight crew had flown through that same area from Atlanta earlier in the day, encountering only mild turbulence and light rain.
The weather system had greatly intensified in the meantime. The peak convective activity was later shown on ground 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...
to be near Rome, Georgia
Rome, Georgia
Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Rome is the largest city and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. It is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Floyd County...
, to which the flight was cleared to proceed by air traffic control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
. The crew attempted to pick out a path through the cells depicted on their onboard weather radar display, but they were apparently misled by the radar's attenuation effect and they proceeded toward what they believed was a low intensity area, when in fact it was the peak convective activity point, attenuated by rain.
As the aircraft descended from its cruise altitude of 17,000 feet to 14,000 feet near Rome VOR
VHF omnidirectional range
VOR, short for VHF omnidirectional radio range, is a type of radio navigation system for aircraft. A VOR ground station broadcasts a VHF radio composite signal including the station's identifier, voice , and navigation signal. The identifier is typically a two- or three-letter string in Morse code...
, it apparently entered a thunderstorm cell and encountered a massive amount of water and hail
Hail
Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is referred to as a hail stone. Hail stones on Earth consist mostly of water ice and measure between and in diameter, with the larger stones coming from severe thunderstorms...
. The hail was intense enough to break the aircraft's windshield, and due to the ingestion of both water and hail, both engines were damaged and underwent flameout
Flameout
A flameout refers to the failure of a jet engine caused by the extinction of the flame in the combustion chamber. It can be caused by a number of factors, including fuel exhaustion; compressor stall; insufficient oxygen supply; foreign object damage ; severe inclement weather; and mechanical...
.
The crew attempted unsuccessfully to restart the engines, gliding down unpowered while simultaneously trying to find an emergency landing field within range. Air traffic control suggested Dobbins Air Force Base, about 20 miles east, as a possible landing site, but it was beyond reach. Cartersville Airport
Cartersville Airport
Cartersville Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Cartersville, in Bartow County, Georgia, United States. It is owned by the Cartersville Bartow Airport Authority.Although many U.S...
, a general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
airport about 15 miles north with a much shorter runway intended for light aircraft
Light aircraft
A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross take-off weight of or less.Many aircraft used commercially for freight, sightseeing, photography and scheduled flights are light aircraft.Examples of light aircraft include:...
was considered, but it was behind the aircraft and now out of reach. As the aircraft ran out of altitude and options, gliding with a broken windshield and no engine power, the crew made visual contact with the ground and spotted a straight section of a rural highway below. They executed an unpowered forced landing
Forced landing
A forced landing is a landing by an aircraft made under factors outside the pilot's control, such as the failure of engines, systems, components or weather which makes continued flight impossible. For a full description of these, see article on Emergency landing...
on that road, but during the rollout the aircraft collided with a gas station/grocery store and other structures. The flight crew and 60 passengers were killed due to impact forces and fire, but 19 of the passengers survived, as well as both flight attendants. Eight people on the ground died. One passenger initially survived the crash but died on June 5, 1977. A seriously injured person on the ground died around one month later. The NTSB defined their injuries as serious, as the agency defined a fatal injury as one that occurs within seven days of the accident. Among the fatally injured passengers was rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer Annette Snell
Annette Snell
Annette Snell was a rhythm and blues singer, born in Miami and died in Georgia on April 4, 1977, in the Southern Airways Flight 242 crash.Annette Snell was first a member of the girl group The Fabulettes. In 1968, Annette left the group to go to New York and pursue a solo career...
.
NTSB investigation and final report
The NTSB investigated the accident and concluded the following Probable Cause in its majority report, issued on January 26, 1978:The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the total and unique loss of thrust from both engines while the aircraft was penetrating an area of severe thunderstorms. The loss of thrust was caused by the ingestion of massive amounts of water and hail which in combination with thrust lever movement induced severe stalling in and major damage to the engine compressors.
The NTSB also included the following Contributing Factors:
Major contributing factors included the failure of the company's dispatching system to provide the flightcrew with up-to-date severe weather information pertaining to the aircraft's intended route of flight, the captain's reliance on airborne weather radar for penetration of thunderstorm areas, and limitations in the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control system which precluded the timely dissemination of realtime hazardous weather information to the flightcrew.
Francis H. McAdams
Francis H. McAdams
Francis H. McAdams, Jr. was a longtime member of the United States National Transportation Safety Board. He joined the board on July 31, 1967, having been nominated a few months earlier by President Lyndon Johnson, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 20, 1978.McAdams was a naval...
, one of the four NTSB members, dissented with the other members and filed the following Probable Cause in the same report:
the probable cause of this accident was the captain's decision to penetrate rather than avoid an area of severe weather, the failure to obtain all the available weather information despite having knowledge of the severity of the storm system, and the reliance upon airborne weather radar for penetration rather than avoidance of the storm system. The penetration resulted in a total loss of thrust from both engines due to the ingestion of massive amounts of water and hail which in combination with advanced throttle settings induced severe stalling in, and major damage to, the engine compressors, which prevented the crew from restarting the engines. Furthermore, if the company's dispatching system had provided the flightcrew with timely severe weather information pertaining to the aircraft's intended route of flight, it is possible that the severe weather would not have been penetrated.
McAdams also added the following Contributing Factor:
Contributing to the cause were the inadequacies of the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control system which precluded the dissemination of real-time hazardous weather information to the flightcrew.
Flight attendants' commendation
The flight attendants on board were Catherine Lemoine Cooper as senior flight attendant, and Sandy Purl Ward, second flight attendant.The NTSB noted in its report that despite the fact that the flight crew did not communicate with the cabin crew during the emergency sequence, the flight attendants nevertheless on their own initiative briefed and prepared the passengers for an emergency landing as the plane glided down. Just prior to touchdown, with no prior notice or cue from the flight crew that the plane was about to crash land, the flight attendants "saw trees" in the windows, and immediately yelled to the passengers a final "grab your ankles!" command. The flight attendants also helped evacuate the passengers from the burning plane after the crash landing. The NTSB concluded that:
The flight attendants acted commendably for initiating a comprehensive emergency briefing of the passengers for their protection in preparation for a crash landing. This contributed to the number of survivors.
Purl wrote the book Am I Alive? about the experience and is a motivational speaker. In her book, she tells the story of the crash and the history of critical incident stress management's entry into the aviation industry.
Accident location
The NTSB identified the accident site in its report as "Highway 92 Spur, bisecting New Hope, GA". They also include the geographical coordinates of 33°57′45"N 84°47′13"W. In addition, the NTSB report includes a depiction of the accident site, hand drawn as a circled 'X' on an aviation Sectional chart. Highway designations have been changed as of 2006. The road section used for the forced landing, formerly called Georgia State Route 92 Spur, is now called DallasDallas, Georgia
Dallas is a city in and the county seat of Paulding County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 11,544. It was named for George M. Dallas, Vice President of the United States of America under James K. Polk.-History:...
-Acworth
Acworth, Georgia
Acworth is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,425. Acworth is located in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains along the southeastern banks of Lake Acworth and Lake Allatoona on the Etowah River.Acworth's nickname is "The...
Highway (Georgia State Route 381). The small Georgia community of New Hope, in Paulding County, where a memorial/reunion was held by survivors and family members 20 years after the accident in 1997, still appears on maps as of 2006. The site is 11 miles from Cartersville Airport
Cartersville Airport
Cartersville Airport is a public use airport located three nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Cartersville, in Bartow County, Georgia, United States. It is owned by the Cartersville Bartow Airport Authority.Although many U.S...
and 15.5 miles from Dobbins AFB. Cornelius Moore Field, between Cedartown
Cedartown, Georgia
Cedartown is a city in Polk County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 9,750. The city is the county seat of Polk County...
and Rockmart
Rockmart, Georgia
Rockmart is a city in Polk County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,870 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Rockmart is located at ....
, was about 20.5 miles behind them at the time of the crash.
Dramatization
The story of the disaster was featured on the eighth season of Canadian National Geographic ChannelNational Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
show 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...
(known as Air Emergency in the US, Mayday in Ireland and Air Crash Investigation in the UK and the rest of world). The episode is entitled "Cruel Skies".
See also
- Garuda Indonesia Flight 421Garuda Indonesia Flight 421Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 was a scheduled domestic flight operated by Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia covering about 625 kilometers, from Ampenan to Yogyakarta. On January 16, 2002, the Boeing 737-300 aircraft experienced a flameout in both of its CFM International CFM56 engines about 90...
- lost power in both engines shortly after entering a hail storm. - Southern Airways Flight 932 - the only other fatal Southern AirwaysSouthern AirwaysSouthern Airways was a regional airline operating in the United States from its founding by Frank Hulse in 1949 until 1979 when it merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines, which on October 1, 1986, became part of Northwest Airlines, which in 2008 became a part of Delta Air...
accident - TACA Flight 110TACA Flight 110TACA Flight 110 was an international scheduled airline flight operated by TACA Airlines, traveling from Belize to New Orleans. On May 24, 1988, the flight lost power in both engines but its pilots made a successful deadstick landing on a grass levee, with no one aboard sustaining more than minor...
- May 24, 1988 - 737 which lost thrust in a similar incident - List of notable accidents and incidents on commercial aircraft
External links
- ASN accident record
- AOPA Air Safety Foundation narrative (including cockpit voice recorder transcripts)
- Pre-accident photo of accident aircraft N1335U on ASN
- Another photo of N1335U