1992 — March 22, USAir 405, Ice on Wings, Crashes on Takeoff, LaGuardia, NYC, NY– 27

— 27  B3A. “Crash of a Fokker F28 in New York: 27 killed.” Geneva, Switzerland.

— 27  Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description, Fokker F-28 Flight 405, March 22, 1992.

— 27  NTSB AAR. Takeoff Stall in Icing Conditions, USAIR Flight 405…,  February 17, 1993

 

Narrative Information

 

NTSB: “On Sunday, March 22, 1992, about 2135 eastern standard time, a Fokker 28-4000…operating as USAir flight 405, crashed during an attempted takeoff from runway 13 at LaGuardia Airport, Rushing, New York. Flight 405 was…a scheduled flight from Jacksonville, Florida, to Cleveland, Ohio, with a stopover at LaGuardia Airport. There were 47 passengers, 2 flight crew members, and 2 cabin crew members on Board. The captain, one of the cabin-crew members, and 25 passengers received fatal injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and subsequent fire.

 

“The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable causes of this accident were the failure of the airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration to provide flightcrews with procedures, requirements, and criteria compatible with departure delays in conditions conducive to airframe icing and the decision by the flightcrew to take off without positive assurance that the airplane’s wings were free of ice accumulation after 35 minutes of exposure to precipitation following deicing. The ice contamination on the wings resulted in an aerodynamic stall and loss of control after liftoff. Contributing to the cause of the accident were the inappropriate procedures used by, and inadequate coordination between, the flightcrew that led to a takeoff rotation at a lower than prescribed air speed.

 

“The safety issues in this report focused on the weather affecting the flight, USAir’s deicing procedures, industry airframe deicing practices, air traffic control aspects affecting the flight, USAir’s takeoff and preflight procedures, and flightcrew qualifications and training. The dynamics of the airplane’s impact with the ground, post accident survivability, and crash/fire/rescue activities were also analyzed.

 

“Safety recommendations concerning these issues were addressed to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Department of Transportation, and the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation.”  (NTSB 1993, vi)

 

“The airplane came to rest partially inverted at the edge of Flushing Bay, and parts of the fuselage and cockpit were submerged in water. After the airplane came to rest, passengers stated that several small residual fires broke out on the water and on the wreckage debris. Aircraft rescue and fire fighters…responded to the accident scent, extinguished the fires, and began rescue efforts. The accident occurred at 2135…during the hours of darkness…” (NTSB 1993, 6.)

 

In addition to 27 fatalities there were 9 serious injuries and 12 minor injuries.  (NTSB 1993, 6.)

 

“Of the 27 occupants who died, 8 of them sustained minor injuries and died as a result of drowning, 7 sustained serious injuries and died as a result of drowning, 9 died as a result of blunt force trauma, 1 died as a result of smoke inhalation/burns, 1 died from burns, and 1 survived for several hours but subsequently died at the hospital with cervical spine injuries.” (NTSB 1993, 6.)

 

From Findings:

 

  • “At the time of the accident, USAir did not require a specific exterior inspection for ice contamination of F-28 aircraft during periods of freezing precipitation.
  • “The airplane was deiced two times using Type 1 deicing fluid, and before leaving the gate, and the winds were properly clear of contamination.
  • “In the 35 minutes between the second deicing and takeoff, during precipitation and freezing temperatures, the airplane accumulated ice on its lifting surfaces.
  • “The delay and taxi time of 35 minutes exceeded the Type I deicing fluids published safe holdover time, which for the existing conditions was calculated to be about 11 minutes.
  • “The captain did not use a USAir-approved V1 speed….
  • “The airplane experienced a wing lift deficiency because of ice contamination.” (NTSB 1993)

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Fokker F-28 Flight 405, March 22, 1992.  Accessed 1/25/2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19920322-1

 

B3A (Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives). “Crash of a Fokker F28 in New York: 27 killed.” Geneva, Switzerland. Accessed 4-13-2016 at: http://www.baaa-acro.com/1992/archives/crash-of-a-fokker-f28-in-new-york-27-killed/

 

National Transportation Safety Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Takeoff Stall in Icing Conditions, USAIR Flight 405, Fokker F-28, N485US, LaGuardia Airport, Flushing, New York, March 22, 1992. Washington, DC: NTSB, adopted February 17, 1993, 129 pages. Accessed 4-13-2016 at: http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR9302.pdf