Delta Air Lines Flight 191

Aircraft


A Delta Air Lines L-1011


The airplane used on that day was N726DA, a Lockheed L-1011-385-1 TriStar, a workhorse in Delta's fleet at the time. The flight was piloted by Captain Edward "Ted" Conners, First Officer Rudolph Price and Second Officer Nick Nassick.
gillette mach 3 turbo blades


Crash
hole saw arbor


NTSB map indicating locations of passengers according to lack of injury, types of injuries, and deaths


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 Conners 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 developed near DFW. The Captain and copilot noticed the isolated storm ahead, but decided to proceed through it anyway, which resulted in the aircraft getting caught up in a microburst.


At about 1500 feet above ground level (460 m), First Officer Price (as heard in the cockpit voice recorder) reported seeing lightning in one of the clouds ahead.


At 800 feet (240 m) above ground level, the airspeed increased 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 Conners had recognized the aircraft's speed increase as a sign of wind shear, and he warned Price to watch the speed. Conners told Price, "you're going to lose it all of a sudden, there it is." Suddenly, the 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 Conners 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.


Delta Flight 191 first struck the ground on a field about 6,300 feet north of the approach end of runway 17L and bounced back into the air. Then, while crossing State Highway 114, it came down again, with an engine striking a black 1971 Toyota Celica vehicle, killing its occupant, William Hodge Mayberry. 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 m) water tanks at a speed of 220 knots, and exploding into flames. Most of the survivors of Flight 191 were located in the rear section of the aircraft, which broke free from the main fuselage before the aircraft hit the water tanks.


Most of the survivors sat in the smoking section. Authorities took most of the survivors to Parkland Memorial Hospital.


Two of the passengers who initially survived the impact died more than 30 days after the accident. On the ground, an airline employee who assisted the rescue of the passengers became hospitalized overnight after feeling 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.


Investigation


After a lengthy 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 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.


Legacy


The crash of Delta Flight 191 was later the subject of a television movie 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 a British air accident series known as Black Box (Deadly Weather) from Channel 4.


"Slammed to the Ground" of Mayday (Air Crash Investigation or Air Emergency) on Discovery Channel Canada and National Geographic dramatized the disaster.


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 stop the use of this number. See flight 191 for more information.


Passengers


Don Estridge, known to the world as the father of the IBM PC, died aboard this flight along with his wife, Mary Ann, two IBM summer interns, and six additional family members of IBM employees.


See also


Dallas-Fort Worth portal


Aviation portal


Microburst


Lists of accidents and incidents on commercial airliners


Air safety


Flight 191


Pan Am Flight 759


References


^ a b Magnuson, Ed (18 April 2005). "Like a Wall of Napalm". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050423-2,00.html. 


^ a b "Aircraft Accident Report". National Transportation Safety Board. http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR86-05.pdf. 


^ "Probable Cause of Delta Air Lines Flight 191 Crash". National Transportation Safety Board. http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001214X37434. Retrieved 2006-08-27. 


^ Wallace, Lane E. ""The Best That We Can Do":Taming the Microburst Windshear". Airborne Trailblazer. NASA. http://oea.larc.nasa.gov/trailblazer/SP-4216/chapter5/ch5.html. Retrieved 2009-01-16. 


^ "Slammed To The Ground." Mayday.


^ Sanger, David E. "PHILIP ESTRIDGE DIES IN JET CRASH; GUIDED IBM PERSONAL COMPUTER." The New York Times. August 5, 1985. Retrieved on May 6, 2009.


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


Delta Flight 191 Approach and Crash - 2 Aug 1985 at YouTube YouTube link states "This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Z-Axis ."


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


Coordinates: 325506 970125 / 32.91833N 97.02361W / 32.91833; -97.02361


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1984 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1985 1986


Eastern Air Lines Flight 980 (January 1)  Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 (January 21)  China Airlines Flight 006 / Iberia Airlines Flight 610 (February 19)  Polar 3 (February 24)  Aeroflot Flight SSSR-65856 (May 3)  TWA Flight 847 (June 14)  Braathens SAFE Flight 139 (June 21)  Air India Flight 182 (June 23)  Air India Flight 301 (June 23)  Aeroflot Flight 7425 (July 10)  Delta Air Lines Flight 191 (August 2)  Japan Airlines Flight 123 (August 12)  British Airtours Flight 28M (August 22)  Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 (August 25)  Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 (September 6)  EgyptAir Flight 648 (November 23)  Arrow Air Flight 1285 (December 12)


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Categories: Accidents and incidents on commercial airliners in the United States | Airliner crashes caused by microburst | Aviation accidents and incidents officially attributed to pilot error | 1985 meteorology | Aviation accidents and incidents in 1985 | 1985 in the United States | Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex | Delta Air Lines flights | Disasters in Texas | Irving, Texas | Accidents and incidents involving the Lockheed L-1011