1987 — Jan 20, Planes collide, US Army Beechcraft & business Piper ~Independence MO–6

–6  NTSB. AAR. Midair Collision of U.S. Army U-21A…and Sachs Electric…Piper…1988, p. ii.

–6  Sturkey. Mid-Air: Accident Reports and Voice Transcripts. 2008, p. 344.

Narrative Information

NTSB Abstract: “On January 20, 1987, about 1228 central standard time, a U.S. Army Beech U-21A airplane, Army 18061, and a Sachs Electric Company Piper PA-31-350, N60SE, collided at 7,000 feet msl over the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant, Independence, Missouri, about 5 miles east of the eastern boundary of the Kansas City Terminal Control Area. The U-21 was level at 7,000 feet and en route to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in accordance with instrument flight rules. The PA-31 was climbing eastbound to an unknown cruise altitude, having departed the Kansas City Downtown Airport in accordance with visual flight rules [VFR], en route to Saint Louis, Missouri. The airplanes collided nearly head-on in daylight and visual meteorological conditions. Although both airplanes were equipped with operating mode-C transponders, the radar controllers in communication with the [Army] U-21 did not observe and were not alerted to the conflict. Therefore, traffic advisories were not provided. As a result of the accident two pilots and one passenger[1] aboard the U-21 and the pilot and two passengers aboard the PA-31 were fatally injured. Both airplanes were destroyed.

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the failure of the radar controllers to detect the conflict and to issue traffic advisories or a safety alert to the flightcrew of the U-21; deficiencies of the see and avoid concept as a primary means of collision avoidance; and the lack of automated redundancy in the air traffic control system to provide conflict detection between participating and nonparticipating aircraft.” (NTSB 1988, p. ii.)

“Analysis….the Safety Board concludes that the radar target of N60SE was displayed on the East Radar controller scope; yet both controllers failed to perceive it and the collision threat represented by it in the minutes before the accident. This failure elevates the concerns of the Safety Board that ATC system redundancy in the form of VFR conflict alert programming is needed to assist in the prevention of such midair collision accidents.” (NTSB 1988, p. 28.)

Sources

National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Midair Collision of U.S. Army U-21A, Army 18061, and Sachs Electric Company, Piper PA-31-350, N60SE, Independence, Missouri, January 20, 1987 (NTSB/AAR-88/01). Washington, DC: NTSB, 2-3-1988. Accessed 8-30-2018 at: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR8801.pdf

Sturkey, Marion F. Mid-Air: Accident Reports and Voice Transcripts from Military and Airline Mid-Air Collisions. Plum Branch, SC: Heritage Press International, 2008.

[1] US Army General, Commandant of Military Police School, Fort McClellan, AL. (Sturkey. Mid-Air. 2008, p. 344.