1991 — April 5, Atlantic Southeast Air Flight 2311 AP approach crash, Brunswick, GA– 23
— 23 NTSB. AAR. Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc., Flight 2311…Brunswick… 1992, p. v.
— 23 NYT. “Plane Crash in Georgia Kills 23, Including Former Senator Tower.” 4-6-1991.
Narrative Information
NTSB Executive Summary: “On April 5, 1991, Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc., flight 2311, an Embraer EMB-120, N270AS, crashed during a landing approach to runway 07 at the Glynco Jetport,[1] Brunswick, Georgia. The flight was a scheduled commuter flight from Atlanta to Brunswick, Georgia, and was being conducted under instrument flight rules. The airplane was operating in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. The aircraft was destroyed; and the two pilots, the flight attendant, and all 20 passengers received fatal injuries.
“Flight 2311 was cleared for a visual approach to Glynco Jetport a few minutes before the accident. Witnesses reported that as the airplane approached the airport, it suddenly turned or rolled to the left until the wings were perpendicular to the ground. The airplane then fell in a nose-down attitude and disappeared out of sight behind the trees.
“Examinations of the left propeller components indicated a propeller blade angle of about 3 degrees at impact while the left propeller control unit ballscrew position was consistent with a commanded blade angle of 79.2 degrees. The discrepancy between the actual propeller blade angle and the angle commanded screw is a strong indication that there was a discrepancy inside the propeller control unit prior to impact and that the left propeller had achieved an uncommanded low blade angle.
“The discrepancy in the propeller control unit was found to have been extreme wear on the propeller control unit quill spline teeth which normally engaged the titanium-nitrided splines of the propeller transfer tube. It was found that the titanium-nitrided surface was much harder and rougher than the nitrided surface of the quill. Therefore, the transfer tube spines acted like a file and caused abnormal wear of the gear teeth on the quill. The investigation found that wear of the quill was not considered during the certification of the propeller system.
“The investigation revealed crew rest practices that may be detrimental to crew performance although they probably had no bearing in the cause of this accident.
“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the loss of control in flight as a result of a malfunction of the left engine propeller control unit which allowed the propeller blade angles to go below the flight idle position. Contributing to the accident was the deficient design of the propeller control unit by Hamilton Standard and the approval of the design by the Federal Aviation Administration. The design did not correctly evaluate the failure mode that occurred during this flight, which resulted in an uncommanded and uncorrectable movement of the blades of the airplane’s left propeller below the flight idle position.
“As a result of its investigation of this accident, the Safety Board made four recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration pertaining to the certification of propeller systems, the recertification and the need to establish periodic inspection requirements for the Hamilton Standard model 14RF propellers, and regarding the flightcrew reduced rest provisions contained in 14 CFR section 135.265. In addition, the Safety Board made a recommendation to Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc., and the Regional Airlines Association urging them to discontinue scheduling reduced rest for flightcrews.” (NTSB. AAR. Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc., Flight 2311…Brunswick… 1992, pp. v-vi.)
NYT: “Brunswick, Ga., April 5 — A commuter plane carrying 23 people, including former Senator John G. Tower of Texas, crashed and burned today a mile and a half short of the airport near this Georgia coast city, killing everyone on board. The twin-engine turbo-prop Atlantic Southeast Airlines plane flying from Atlanta went down in a thickly wooded area within view of motorists on Interstate 95 shortly before 3 P.M., the police said…..
“A spokesman for Mr. Tower said the 65-year old Republican was traveling with his 35-year-old daughter, Marian Tower, to Sea Island off the Georgia coast to promote his new book. Mr. Tower had been the subject of a bitter confirmation battle that saw the Senate reject his nomination as Defense Secretary in 1989.
“The accident came a day after Senator John Heinz, a Pennsylvania Republican, was killed with six others when his chartered plane collided with a helicopter over a suburb of Philadelphia….
“Another commuter passenger was an astronaut, Capt. Manley Lanier Carter Jr., 43, who flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery on a five-day mission in November 1989….
“People who saw the debris said it appeared that the aircraft, a Brazilian-made Embraer 120 popular with commuter airlines, fell straight down before crashing short of the airport near Brunswick, midway between Savannah and Jacksonville, Fla. It fell into a pine forest about 150 yards off a hardtop road and half a mile from an elementary school….
“…a spokesman for the airline, said the flight was one of four that Atlantic Southeast operates between Atlanta and Brunswick. The Embraer 120 can hold 30 passengers….” (NYT/Keith Schneider. “Plane Crash in Georgia Kills 23, Including Former Senator Tower.” 4-6-1991.)
Sources
National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Atlantic Southeast Airlines, Inc., Flight 2311 Uncontrolled Collision with Terrain, an Embraer EMB-120, N270AS, Brunswick, Georgia, April 5, 1991 (NTSB/AAR-92/03). Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted 4-28-1992. Accessed 4-28-2016 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR9203.pdf
New York Times (Keith Schneider). “Plane Crash in Georgia Kills 23, Including Former Senator Tower.” 4-6-1991. Accessed 4-28-2016 at: http://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/06/us/plane-crash-in-georgia-kills-23-including-former-senator-tower.html
[1] Now known as the Brunswick Golden Isles Airport. (Wikipedia)