1967 — March 30, Delta Air 9877 training crash into motel complex (13), Kenner, LA– 19
— 19 Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Louisiana.
— 19 AirDisaster.Com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 03301967.
— 19 Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Delta Air Flight 9877, 30 Mar 1967.
— 19 NFPA. “The Major Fires of 1967,” Fire Journal, Vol. 62, No. 3, May 1968, p. 6-7.
— 19 NTSB. AAR. Delta Air Lines, Inc, DC-8, N802E, Kenner, Louisiana, March 30, 1967.
Narrative Information
National Fire Protection Association: “On March 30 a Delta DC-8 jet airliner that was being used for training missions in the area of New Orleans International Airport lost power and crashed into a motel complex in Kenner, Louisiana, killing the six persons on the aircraft and 13 people on the ground. The six aboard the aircraft were crash victims; the 13 on the ground died in the ensuing building fires. The pilot, following routine FAA training procedures, cut two of the four engines to simulate an emergency landing. He was banking for his approach to the airport when the crash occurred. The aircraft apparently struck the ground and crashed through two private homes before cartwheeling into the motel, where it broke up and burned….” (NFPA. “The Major Fires of 1967,” Fire Journal, Vol. 62, No. 3, May 1968, p. 6-7.)
National Transportation Safety Board: “Delta Air Lines, Inc., DC-8, N802E, operating as Flight 9877, crashed during a landing approach to Runway 1 at New Orleans International Airport, Kenner, Louisiana, on March 30, I967. Five crewmembers and an FAA observer were fatally injured. This was a training flight with no passengers aboard; however, impact occurred in a residential area and 13 persons on the ground were also killed. The aircraft, several homes and part of a motel complex were destroyed.
“The flight had just taken off on Runway 28…and was in the process of executing a simulated two-engine out landing when the crash occurred. The weather at the time was clear skies, visibility five miles, and the wind from 110 degrees at three knots.
“The Board determines the probable cause of this accident was the improper supervision by the instructor, and the improper use of flight and power controls by both the instructor and the captain-trainee during a simulated two-engine out landing approach, which resulted in a loss of control.
“Delta Air Lines, Inc., DC-8, N802E, was scheduled as Flight 9377, to provide crew training for a captain-trainee and a flight engineer-trainee. In addition the flight engineer-instructor was being given a routine proficiency check….
“The tower controller stated that he observed Flight 9877 in a shallow left turn on what appeared to be a normal final approach. He stated that ‘the degree of bank increased. The descent and turn continued. The nose of the aircraft was pointed approximately 320 degrees and the bank approximately 60 degrees or greater when the aircraft hit the power lines.’….
“A readout of the cockpit voice recorder revealed that at the time of the accident the captain-trainee was executing a simulated two-engine out approach. The aircraft crashed approximately 2,300 feet short and 1,100 feet west of the runway threshold at 0050 c.s.t…..
“The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire… The impact and fire damaged or destroyed three private homes, the mechanical plant and several units of a motel, a section of single railroad track, several vehicles, and powerlines in the area….
“Initial impact occurred in a large tree…After contacting two more trees, the aircraft then slashed through the corner of a house, struck a panel truck, and made initial ground contact at the far edge of the street in front of a house…. The aircraft continued descending, totally destroying a second house, and creating a 30-foot crater up to three feet deep along a general heading of 305 degrees. A third house adjacent to the ground swath was severely damaged by fire. The aircraft continued shedding parts as it skidded along the ground, over a railroad embankment, and finally coming to rest against the buildings of a motel complex approximately 700 feet from the first tree….Nearly all of the aircraft and motel structure in this area were gutted and fire damaged except for some lightly sooted pieces of aircraft which were buried under debris. There was no indication of inflight fire….This was a nonsurvivable accident….
“…at approximately 1,200 feet and 200 knots, with Nos. 1 and 2 engines at idle [simulating engine failure]…the captain-trainee was informed that he had lost rudder power. According to all indications this emergency was simulated by illuminating the warning light rather than by deactivating the system. As the flight turned left to an easterly heading, the altitude was decreasing to approximately 900 feet. At about this time…the flaps were lowered to 25 degrees and altitude increased to 1,100 feet as the airspeed decreased to 180 knots….as the landing checklist was being accomplished, landing flaps were lowered by the instructor, without command from the captain-trainee….
“The captain-trainee did not allow for the increased drag created by the landing flaps and filed to add power in order to maintain a proper glide angle and rate of descent consistent with the airspeed. The instructor provided no corrective action, allowing the captain-trainee to decrease the descent by increasing the aircraft nose attitude rather than with power. From this point on the need for corrective action was critical and increased markedly as the landing approach continued. As the airspeed continued decreasing to approximately 136 knots, the need for power was recognized, and power was applied… A few seconds later a marked divergence of aircraft heading to the left, coincident with a sharp reduction in indicated airspeed and rate of descent, signaled fir first stages of control loss. The estimated aircraft sideslip angle was increasing rapidly from about 13 to 18.5 degrees, and the crew’s alarm was reflected in their exclamations beginning at 0050:05. Eight seconds later the cockpit voice recording ended.” (NTSB. AAR. Delta Air Lines, Inc, DC-8, N802E, Kenner, Louisiana, March 30, 1967.)
Sources
Aircraft Crashes Record Office (Geneva, Switzerland). Louisiana. Accessed 3/9/2009 at: http://www.baaa-acro.com/Pays/Etats-Unis/Louisiane.htm
AirDisaster.Com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 03301967. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=03301967®=N802E&airline=Delta+Air+Lines
Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Delta Air Lines Flight 9877, 30 Mar 1967. Accessed 3/1/2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19670330-0
National Fire Protection Association. “The Major Fires of 1967.” Fire Journal, Vol. 62, No. 3, May 1968, pp. 5-7.
National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Delta Air Lines, Inc, DC-8, N802E, Kenner, Louisiana, March 30, 1967 (NTSB-AAR-73-3; File 1-0003). Washington DC: NTSB, adopted December 20, 1967; 42 pages. Accessed at:
http://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR73-03.pdf