1969 — Mar 20, Avion Charter plane approach crash in fog, fire, New Orleans IAP, LA– 16

–16 AirDisaster.Com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 03201969.
–16 Aviation Safety Network (ASN). Accident Description. W. Jackson, 20 Mar 1969.
–16 Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. “Crash of a Douglas DC-3-216 in New Orleans…”
–16 Eckert. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” AJFMP, 3/1, Mar 1982, Table 1.
–16 Justia US Law. “In Re Air Crash Disaster at New Orleans…March 20, 1969…”
–16 National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. NFPA, 1983, p. 140.
–16 NFPA. “The Major Fires of 1969,” Fire Journal, Vol. 64, No. 3, May 1970, p. 39.
–16 NTSB. AAR. Douglas OC-3…New Orleans International Airport…March 20, 1969.

Narrative Information

ASN: “At 06:35 the crew contacted New Orleans approach control: “… out of three point four for three thousand.” The approach controller told the crew to maintain 3000 feet and proceed direct to the ILS outer compass locator. He gave the weather as “sky partially obscured visibility 1/16 fog and smoke, altimeter 30.00, runway 10 runway visual range less than 600 feet”. The pilot elected to carry out the approach despite the fact that minimum visibility for an approach was 2400 feet and that the centerline lights were inoperative. After being given vectors for the runway 10 approach he decided to carry out a low pass and continue if runway lights became visible. Apparently the pilot continued the descent. The aircraft contacted the runway very hard 1198 feet past the threshold, bounced and after power was applied, the DC-3 struck the ground again 3100 feet further on. The airplane cartwheeled and caught fire.

“Probable Cause: The controlled descent of the aircraft into known below minima weather conditions and the failure of the crew to discontinue the landing attempt upon reaching the decision height. Contributing to the cause are existing regulations which permit an approach to be initiated in conditions well below minima, lack of clarity in the regulations in describing missed approach procedures while following visual cues to the runway, misinterpretation by the crew of information received from the approach controller (in this case, the legality of landing in low visibility conditions), improper crew action at the time of initial runway contact , and poor crew judgment partially induced by fatigue, and the lack of management required for such an operation.

“Follow-up / safety actions: Three safety recommendations were issued with regards landing minima. One of the recommendation stated that FAR 91.117 be amended to the effect that no descent below 200ft shall be performed unless landing minima are present.” (Aviation Safety Network. AD. W. Jackson, 20Mar1969; cites NTSB/AAR-70-03, Jan 14, 1970.)

Justia US Law: “This is a suit against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b) (1970), brought by representatives of the estates of nine men who were killed in the crash of an unscheduled airplane at the New Orleans International Airport (Moisant Field) in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 20, 1969. Appellants alleged proximate negligence on the part of the Federal Aviation Administration (hereinafter FAA) air controllers at Moisant Field who had been in contact with the DC-3 before the crash. The aircraft had been leased by Avion, Inc., to one William Jackson, doing business as Travel Associates, for a charter flight of hunters from Memphis, Tennessee, to Belize, British Honduras. The aircraft was scheduled to clear customs at Moisant Field at New Orleans on March 20, 1969. It departed from Memphis around 4:30 a. m. and, seeking to make a bad visibility landing, it crashed after bouncing off a runway at Moisant at approximately 6:55 a. m. All three crew members and 13 of the 24 passengers were killed.

“The pilot of the DC-3 had been warned several times by FAA controllers during the flight from Memphis to New Orleans that Moisant Field was affected by smoke and ground fog, that visibility was less than 600 feet (well below its minimum requirement for landing of 2,400 feet). He was told that no planes had landed at Moisant but that the weather was expected to clear around 9 a. m. The pilot decided to fly to Moisant and asked and received permission to come in for a low level approach and “look at it.”

“Apparently relying upon the clearance to make the low level approach and upon an incomplete (or erroneous) answer to a question about which the primary issue in this case revolves, but without ever asking for or receiving “clearance to land,” the pilot made the approach and descended to where on his last transmission he told the tower he had “the strobe lights in sight.” The physical facts of the accident showed that he then descended below the 202 MSL (feet above mean sea level) “missed approach” level, struck runway 10 at Moisant at a 25o angle, bounced off, and failing to gain altitude, struck the ground heavily at a distance of 3000 ft., the plane finally coming to rest in flames 5000 ft. from the first point of impact.

“Evidence presented by the government included the testimony of two survivors of the crash who were themselves amateur pilots. Both testified that they had watched out the window of the DC-3 and had seen that the ship was flying through heavy fog in the minutes before the crash. One testified to a brief glimpse of the runway before the fog closed in again just before the crash.

“FAA Regulations clearly forbid a pilot to land without the minimum required visibility “unless otherwise authorized by the Administrator.”….

“Without regard to whether anybody was negligent in getting the DC-3 to a point 202 feet in the air above Moisant Airport, it may well be that the critical fact of this accident was the pilot’s error in determining to try to land when his heavily loaded plane was not lined up with the runway. Since the marks from the DC-3’s first bounce on the runway and those made by the subsequent crash contact indicated the plane was at a 25 degree angle with the runway, it is obvious the pilot should never have descended below 202 feet (MSL).

“On this issue the District Judge found:

“From the angle of the skid marks on the runway and the testimony of the passengers, this Court finds that the requirements of 14 C.F.R. § 91.117(b) were not maintained. To descend below DH when the requirements were not met or maintained constituted a violation of that section and constituted another one of the forms of negligence on the part of the crew which was the proximate cause of the crash….”

National Fire Protection Association: “On March 20 a DC-3 charter aircraft en route from Tennessee to British Honduras was landing at New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana, for refueling. The area was shrouded in heavy fog and the aircraft bounced on landing. The pilot then ap¬parently applied power in an attempt to clear the run¬way, but the left wing caught the ground and the air¬craft crashed. The heavy fog obscured the fire, which broke out immediately, and hindered response and fire¬fighting operations. One person escaped unaided, 11 were rescued alive, and 16 died in the aircraft. Thirteen of the 16 deaths were the result of suffocation; the other three were impact deaths.” (NFPA. “The Major Fires of 1969,” Fire Journal, Vol. 64, No. 3, May 1970, p. 39.)

NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board): Synopsis “N142D, a Douglas X-3, was being operated by Mr. Wlm [William] Jackson of Travel Associates, Memphis, Tennessee, for the purpose of transporting sportsmen to Belize, British Honduras. The aircraft crashed and burned on New Orleans International Airport following an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to Runway 10. The crash occurred at 0655 c.s.t. on March 20, 1969. Of the 27 persons on board, 11 survived. The crew of three was among those fatally injured. The aircraft came to rest at the intersection of Runways 5 and 10. With the exception of the right wing and empennage, the aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire.

“The aircraft departed Memphis, Tennessee, at 0433 and flew on an instrument flight plan to the New Orleans International Airport…..

“Prior to commencing the ILS approach to Runway 10, the weather conditions were reported to N142D. These conditions included a Runway Visual Range (RVR) of less than 600 feet because of fog and smoke. This condition existed before, at, and after the time of the accident.

“Probable Cause The Safety Board determines the probable cause of this accident to be the controlled descent of the aircraft into known below minimum weather conditions and the failure of the crew to discontinue the landing attempt upon reaching the decision height. Contributing to the cause are existing regulations which permit an approach to be initiated in conditions well below minimum, lack of clarity in the regulations in describing missed-approach procedures while following visual cues to the runway, misinterpretation by the crew of the information received from the approach controller (in this case, the legality of landing in low visibility conditions), improper crew action at the time of initial runway contact, and poor crew judgment partially induced by fatigue, and the lack of management required for such an operation…..

“History of the Flight ….The survivors described the initial ground contact as very hard and said that the aircraft bounced, after which the sound of power being applied was heard. Several seconds passed before the second ground impact, during which some thought that the left wing struck something. One survivor described the second impact by saying that that the aircraft tilted to the left and started to cartwheel. After the aircraft came to rest, fire was seen by the survivors….

“Wreckage …The first indication of ground contact was found on Runway 10 at a point 1,198 feet beyond the approach and…two tire scuff marks, 18 feet 8 inches apart…were evident. These marks proceeded toward the right side of Runway 10 at an angle of approximately 25 [degrees]….

“The second indication of ground contact was found 3,100 feet beyond the initial ground contact marks and 87 feet 9 inches right of the right edge of Runway 10. These second marks, consisting of tire scuff marks and propeller slash marks, were found on a taxiway….The scuff and propeller slash marks proceeded for a distance of 173 feet 9 inches, at which point the tire and propeller slash marks ended. However, a sharply defined groove, w inches wide and 1 inch deep, continued in the ground beyond the right landing gear track to a point 259 feet 11 inches from the start of the marks on the taxiway.

“The next indication of ground impact was scrape and scuff marks on Runway 10 near the junction of Runways 5 and 10. These marks terminated under the main wreckage, which had come to rest on the north side of the junction. A red…like substance was imbedded in one of the scrape marks. This material was similar to the broken red cover from the left wingtip light….

“Fire. Fire occurred after ground impact. Although the aircraft crashed on the airport, this fact was not known for approximately 5 minutes. The firefighting equipment did not arrive for an additional five minutes….” (NTSB. New Orleans International Airport…March 20, 1969.)

Sources

AirDisaster.com. Accident Database. Accident Synopsis 03201969. Accessed at: http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=03201969&reg=N142D&airline=Avion+Airways

Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. W. Jackson, 20 Mar 1969. Accessed 3-2-2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19690320-2

Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. “Crash of a Douglas DC-3-216 in New Orleans: 16 Killed.” [Cites NTSB final report.] Accessed 3-28-2022 at: https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-douglas-dc-3-216-new-orleans-16-killed

Eckert, William G. “Fatal commercial air transport crashes, 1924-1981.” American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 1982, Table 1.

Justia US Law. “In Re Air Crash Disaster at New Orleans (Moisant Field), Louisiana on March 20, 1969. Mary L. Cates et al., Plaintiffs-appellants, v. United States of America, Defendant-appellee, 544 F.2d 270 (6th Cir. 19766).” US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit – 544 F.2d 270 (6th Cir. 1976). Argued Feb 5. 1976. Decided Oct. 14, 1976. Accessed 3-28-2022 at: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/544/270/239231/

National Fire Protection Association. The 1984 Fire Almanac. Quincy, MA: NFPA, 1983.

National Fire Protection Association. “The Major Fires of 1969,” Fire Journal, Vol. 64, No. 3, May 1970, pp. 37-40.

National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Douglas OC-3, N1420, New Orleans International Airport (Moisant Field), New Orleans, Louisiana, March 20, 1969 (Fire No. 1-0045). Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted 1-14-1970. Accessed 3-28-2022 at: https://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR70-03.pdf