Air Midwest Flight 5481

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Air Midwest Flight 5481
Beech 1900D, USAir Express (Air Midwest) AN1076504.jpg

an identical Beechcraft 1900D Air Midwest
Accident summary
Accident type Loss of control
place Charlotte Airport , USA
date January 8, 2003
Fatalities 21st
Survivors 0
Injured on the ground 1
Aircraft
Aircraft type Beechcraft 1900D
operator Air Midwest on behalf of
US Airways
Mark N233YV
Departure airport Charlotte Airport , USA
Destination airport Greenville Airport , USA
Passengers 19th
crew 2
Lists of aviation accidents

On January 8, 2003, a Beechcraft 1900D crashed on Air Midwest Flight 5481 (operating as US Airways Express Flight 5481 ) shortly after taking off from Charlotte Airport . The Air Midwest aircraft used was to make a scheduled flight from Charlotte ( North Carolina ) to Greenville ( South Carolina ). All 21 occupants were killed in the accident. Another person was slightly injured on the ground.

Flight history

As part of a cooperation agreement, US Airways commissioned the regional airline Air Midwest to carry out flight operations on the route from Charlotte to Greenville. Incoming flights were made under the brand US Airways Express , as well as US Airways - flight numbers .

The Beechcraft 1900D initially took off normally from Charlotte Douglas International Airport, but rose steeply during and after the landing gear retracted, causing the speed to decrease rapidly. When the aircraft finally reached an angle of attack of 54 °, the flow on the wings broke off. During the crash, the machine brushed against a hangar. It hit 37 seconds after takeoff and caught fire . All 19 passengers and the two pilots were killed.

Cause of crash

Due to a failure in maintenance of the elevator control ropes , the elevator could only a maximum deflection angle of 7 ° AND ( A ircraft N ose D reach own). Usually this is between 14 ° and 15 °. Overloading the machine and retracting the landing gear made the machine so heavily tail-heavy during the climb that an elevator deflection of at least 9 ° to 10 ° AND would have been necessary to compensate. Because the deflection was limited to 7 °, the crew could not flatten the climb. The aircraft thus got into an uncontrollable flight condition and crashed.

media

The Canadian television program Mayday - Alarm im Cockpit deals with this accident in the episode “Fatal Weight” (Season 5, Episode 5).

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