National Airlines Flight 193
| National Airlines Flight 193 | |
|---|---|
 An identical Boeing 727 from National Airlines |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Controlled flight into water |
| place |
Escambia Bay near Pensacola , Florida United States
|
| date | May 8, 1978 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 55 |
| Injured | 11 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type |
Boeing 727-235
|
| operator |
National Airlines
|
| Mark |
N4744
|
| Departure airport |
Orlando Melbourne International Airport , Melbourne , Florida , United States
|
| 1. Stopover |
Tampa International Airport , Florida , United States
|
| 2. Stopover |
Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport , Louisiana , United States
|
| 3. Stopover |
Mobile Municipal Airport , Alabama , United States
|
| Destination airport |
Pensacola Regional Airport , Florida , United States
|
| Passengers | 52 |
| crew | 6th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
On the National Airlines Flight 193 (Flight number: NA193 ) crashed on May 8, 1978, a Boeing 727-235 of the National Airlines shortly before landing at the Pensacola Regional Airport in the US state of Florida . On the final approach, the machine was flown into the shallow water of Escambia Bay , killing three passengers and injuring eleven people.
machine
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 727-235, which was 10 years and 2 months old at the time of the accident. The machine was the work of Boeing on the Boeing Field in the state of Washington assembled and completed on 20 March 1968 its first flight before it was delivered new seven days later to the National Airlines. The aircraft had the factory number 19464, it was the 553rd Boeing 727 from ongoing production. The machine was registered with the aircraft registration N4744 and christened Donna . The three - engine narrow -body aircraft was equipped with three Pratt & Whitney JT8D-7B engines. By the time of the accident, the machine had had a total operating performance of 26,720.2 operating hours.
crew
A crew of six was on board on the flight.
Cockpit crew
There was a three-person crew in the cockpit, consisting of a flight captain, a first officer and a flight engineer:
- The 55-year-old flight captain George T. Kunz flew for National Airlines since November 12, 1956. On October 23, 1967 he was promoted to captain of the Boeing 727. Kunz had 18,109 hours of flight experience with National Airlines, including 5,358 hours in the cockpit of the Boeing 727. He had successfully passed his last flight proficiency test on October 31, 1977.
- First Officer Leonard G. Sanderson, Jr., 31, had been with National Airlines since December 20, 1976. He was promoted to the rank of First Officer of the Boeing 727 on November 14, 1977. Sanderson had 4848 hours of flying experience. Of these, he had completed 842 hours in the cockpit of the Boeing 727. His last flight proficiency test was on November 14, 1977.
- The 47-year-old flight engineer James K. Stockwell began an employment relationship with National Airlines on June 2, 1969. On August 20, 1969, he was promoted to flight engineer on board the Boeing 727. Stockwell had 9486 hours of flight experience as a flight engineer, 7050 of which he had completed in the cockpit of the Boeing 727. He passed his last flight proficiency test on August 16, 1977 with success.
Cabin crew
The three-person cabin crew consisted of two flight attendants and one flight attendant:
- The 29-year-old flight attendant Carol J. Crawford worked for National Airlines since March 16, 1968 and flew on Boeing 727 aircraft, on which she had gathered around 5,000 hours of flight experience.
- The 23-year-old flight attendant Carl E. Greenland worked for National Airlines since January 28, 1977 and flew in the Boeing 727 aircraft, on which he had gathered around 600 hours of flight experience.
- The 28-year-old flight attendant Deborah W. Verplank worked for National Airlines since August 26, 1970 and flew in Boeing 727 aircraft, on which she had gathered around 4,000 hours of flight experience.
Passengers
52 passengers were seated on board the Boeing 727 on the affected flight segment.
Flight plan
Scheduled flight NA193 ran first within Florida from Orlando Melbourne International Airport in Palm Bay west to Tampa International Airport and then further north-west to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana , then to fly east back to Florida, with a scheduled stopover at Mobile Municipal Airport in Alabama . The destination airport was the Pensacola Regional Airport in western Florida. The accident occurred on the last leg of the flight, on the approach to Pensacola.
the accident
After the first three flight segments with all stopovers could be flown on the afternoon and evening of May 8, 1978 without any particular incidents, the aircraft took off at 9:02 p.m. - and thus after dark - to fly the last leg to Pensacola. The last section, for which a flight duration of around 20 minutes was calculated, was flown in instrument flight. After take-off, the pilots let the machine soar to a cruising altitude of 7000 feet (approx. 2134 meters).
The instrument landing system on runway 16 at Pensacola Airport had been out of service since January 1978 due to renovation work on this runway. Air traffic control offered the crew a non-precision approach procedure on runway 25 as an alternative . Shortly before, the crew of a twin-engine Beechcraft machine had reported that they had broken through the cloud cover at a height of 450 feet (approx. 140 meters). The minimum descent altitude for this approach was 480 feet (150 meters), so the Beechcraft's first officer advised the master that he believed they had violated the approach rules. The crew of an Eastern Air Lines machine , which was flying directly in front of the National Airlines Boeing 727, reported at short notice that the runway was in sight. Shortly thereafter, however, the aircraft flew back into the clouds, and then the pilot for a go-around decision.
The first officer of the National Airlines Boeing 727 failed to announce the respective flight altitude on approach. The acoustic warning signal ("Pull up!") Of the Ground Proximity Warning System sounded, whereupon the flight captain looked at his altimeter . He read an altitude of 1500 feet (approx. 460 meters) and suspected a false reading, which is why he switched off the warning sound. As later evaluations of the flight recorder data showed, the machine was at an altitude of 500 feet (approx. 150 meters) at this point in time. Distracted by the alarm, the crew overlooked the fact that they had already fallen below the minimum descent altitude. A few moments later, 18 seconds after the first sounding of the warning signal, the plane landed in the shallow waters of Escambia Bay with its landing gear extended and its flaps extended to 25 degrees, skidded over the water and finally came to a standstill.
evacuation
Immediately after touchdown, the evacuation of the machine began. The water depth at the final position of the wreck was around 12 feet (approx. 3.65 meters). The aircraft fuselage had remained intact, and the wings and engines also remained on the aircraft fuselage. Immediately after touchdown, water and kerosene began to enter the cabin. The machine began to sink, stern first.
The machine had inflatable escape slides, but only the rear one was automatically inflatable. None of the evacuation slides were activated for evacuation. When trying to get off the plane, three passengers drowned.
Victim
Three passengers died and eleven people were injured in the accident. Four people suffered serious injuries: two passengers sustained lower back injuries when touching down on the water, and two flight attendants were injured in the stern. One flight attendant suffered a concussion and a dislocated shoulder, and another injured her pelvic area.
causes
Deficiencies in preparation for landing
During the investigation into the accident, the crew found a lack of care in preparing for landing. Since the first officer failed to inform the master of the flight altitude at regular intervals, the latter misjudged it. Both pilots forgot that runway 16 was closed. The crew was not aware that the VASI lighting would have been available as an additional landing aid for runway 25 .
Underqualified cockpit crew
The incorrect preparation of the crew for landing could ultimately be attributed to the inadequate qualification of the cockpit crew. Upon reviewing the captain's file, it was found that he had some difficulty taking a flight proficiency test.
Deficiencies in flight safety regulations
The fact that three passengers died in the accident was ultimately due to the lack of legal requirements for landings on the water. Since lifeboats and floating seat cushions were not required, they were not on board. A total of 24 passengers believed that the seat cushions were driftable, 14 tried to use them as life rafts. Of these people, eleven were injured while three drowned. The survivors reported that the seat cushions fell apart in the water.
Since the flight section from Mobile to Pensacola was not legally considered to be a surface flight, the safety instructions before departure did not contain any information on the placement and use of the water rescue equipment . The passengers did not know how to turn on the lights on the safety vests. Even those passengers who knew where the life jackets were had difficulty removing them. Due to the darkness and the water penetrating into the cabin, the removal of the life jackets was made even more difficult.
Air traffic control error
In the final report, an error by the air traffic controller was noted as a contributing factor to the accident. Due to an incorrectly estimated position of the machine, he had instructed the final approach of the machine at too close a distance from the airport. The air traffic controller created a situation in which it was impossible for the captain to configure the aircraft for landing in accordance with the flight manual.
The whereabouts of the machine
The machine was loaded onto a barge with cranes and taken to Naval Air Station Pensacola . The underside of the fuselage was dented and the landing gear sheared off. After damage from significant salt water corrosion had been discovered, a repair project was discarded and the machine was written off as a total loss, sold to the company Am Jet Industries , who gave it the license plate N58AJ and scrapped it again at short notice .
Individual evidence
- ↑ accident report B 727-200 N4744 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 5 February of 2019.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT: BOEING 727-235, N4744: NATIONAL AIRLINES, INC.: ESCAMBIA BAY: PENSACOLA, FLORIDA: MAY 8, 1978: REVISIONS ADOPTED: APRIL 10, 1981 " , National Transportation Safety Board
- ↑ a b History of the Boeing 727-223, N4744 , on planelogger.com
Coordinates: 30 ° 29 ′ 8 ″ N , 87 ° 7 ′ 3 ″ W.