1991 — July 10, Plane Crash, L’Express Airlines Flight 508, near Birmingham, AL — 13
–13 Aviation Safety Network. Accident description. Beechcraft C99. L’Express Airlines.
–13 NTSB. AAR. L’Express Airlines…Flight 508…Weather Encounter…Crash… 1992, p. vi.
–12 NTSB. Accidents Involving Passenger Fatalities: U.S. Commuters (Part 135) 1982-Present.
Narrative Information
NTSB AAR: “On July 10, 1991, at approximately 1812 CDT, L’Express Flight 508 crashed while conducting an instrument landing system approach to runway 5 at the Birmingham Airport, Birmingham, Alabama. Flight 508 was a Beech C99 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. The captain of the flight and one passenger survived the crash in Ensley, a residential area in southwest Birmingham. The first officer and the remaining 12 passengers aboard the flight were fatally injured. The airplane was destroyed by the impact and postcrash fire. Two homes and two automobiles were also destroyed.
“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the decision of the captain to initiate and continue an instrument approach into clearly identified thunderstorm activity, resulting in a loss of control of the airplane from which the flightcrew was unable to recover and subsequent collision with obstacles and the terrain.
“The safety issues raised in this report include:
- Pilot training in recognizing thunderstorm hazards and recovering from unusual attitudes, and radar interpretation.
- The relaying of complete weather information to pilots by air traffic controllers.”
(NTSB. AAR. L’Express Airlines, Inc., Flight 508, Beech C99, N7217L, Weather Encounter and Crash near Birmingham, Alabama, July 10, 1991. 1992, p. vi. of 146 pages.)
Sources
Aviation Safety Network (Flight Safety Foundation). Accident description. Beechcraft C99. L’Express Airlines. 10 July 1991. Fatalities 13. Accessed 4-27-2016 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19910710-0
National Transportation Safety Board. Accidents Involving Passenger Fatalities: U.S. Commuters (Part 135) 1982 – Present (website). Accessed 4-27-2016 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/data/Pages/paxftl35.aspx
National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. L’Express Airlines, Inc., Flight 508, Beech C99, N7217L, Weather Encounter and Crash near Birmingham, Alabama, July 10, 1991 (NTSB/AAR-92/01). Washington, CD: NTSB, adopted 3-3-1992, notation 5558A. Accessed 4-27-2016 at: http://libraryonline.erau.edu/online-full-text/ntsb/aircraft-accident-reports/AAR92-01.pdf